Major or moderate flooding has taken place across a number of rivers and lakes in Texas, with a particular focus on the region to the northeast of Houston, according to a map published by state government agencies.
Large swaths of eastern Texas were hit with torrential downpours over the weekend, which caused the death of a five-year-old boy, who was swept from a car in Johnson County, near Forth Worth.
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Over the past week Texas has been struck by a wave of extreme weather, with the Trinity River in Harris County bursting its banks on April 30. Two days later, a tornado destroyed a number of properties and vehicles in Hawley.
According to the TexasFlood.org map, produced in collaboration with the Texas General Land Office, Texas Division of Emergency Management and Texas Water Development Board, six major floods have taken place on bodies of water to the northeast of Houston.
The areas affected are the West Fork of the San Jacinto River near Humble, the San Jacinto River near Sheldon, the Trinity River near Goodrich, Liberty and Moss Bluff and the Neches River at Saltwater Barrier.
Less intense, moderate flood alerts are in force over a much wider area, as far north at the Sabine River near Gladewater, and minor floods have been recorded by TexasFlood.org across eastern Texas.
Hopes of rapid relief are fading, with TexasFlood.org forecasting flooding through to Friday for many areas, though water levels should fall by the end of the week.
The Associated Press reported that a number of high-water rescues took place over the weekend, including several from the roofs of flooded buildings, with some roads still waterlogged or blocked by debris.
The five-year-old boy died after being swept away from the vehicle he was riding in near Lillian, south of Fort Worth, according to a Facebook post from Johnson County emergency management director Jamie Moore.
The child and two adults were in a vehicle that became stuck in swift-moving water and they were then swept away while attempting to reach dry land.
Both adults were rescued alive at 5 a.m. on Sunday and transported to hospital, but around two hours later the child was found dead in the flood waters.
The Flood Control District of Harris County, which includes Houston, released a map showing the amount of rainfall in inches in and around the county over the 24 hours to 9:01 a.m. CT Sunday. It showed the level of rainfall during this time varies from 0.00 inches north of the county to a high of 2.08 towards its center.
Over the past week, the area around Lake Livingston, northeast of Houston, received up to 23 inches of rain according to Jimmy Fowler, a National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist cited in The Telegraph.
The NWS Houston office said on X that the area will see a "drying trend" between Monday and Friday along with rising temperatures, though these are expected to fall a little over Thursday night.
On May 3, around 700 houses were evacuated in Polk County, near Houston, due to flooding, according to ABC News. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told reporters that the East Fork of the San Jacinto River had risen to 75 feet above sea level, well above the usual 45 to 50 feet and nearing the record 81 feet that occurred during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Update 5/6/24 10:20 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to include a Harris County Flood Control District showing rainfall over a 24-hour period.
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James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is covering U.S. politics and world ... Read more
