Five-year-old boy found dead after being swept away in Texas floodwaters

Houston, May 6 (IANS) A five-year-old boy was killed and a woman got injured in floodwaters in Texas, where more than one-third of counties have issued disaster declarations during the past week due to heavy rainfalls.

As of Sunday evening, more than 2.1 million people across Texas, including the Houston area, were under flood watch, Xinhua news agency reported.

Thousands of people have been displaced, and an estimated 1,000 people, together with hundreds of pets, have been rescued from flooded homes and roads since last week.

In a swath from central Texas to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the north, storms brought as much as nine inches (23 cm) of rain in six to eight hours on Sunday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Stalley.

Near Fort Worth in northern Texas, a five-year-old boy died after the vehicle carrying him and two adults was stuck in rapidly moving floodwaters, local authorities said. The two adults were successfully rescued.

Hours later, the Houston Police Department said on social media that two trapped women were rescued from floods, and one of them was taken to a nearby hospital.

The severe storms caused more damage than waterlogged neighbourhoods and roadways, the Houston Chronicle reported. In a northwestern Houston home, lightning struck a tree that collapsed into a garage, starting a fire. When fire officials arrived, they found the garage engulfed in flames.

Several school districts were forced to close last week, and some have said the closure will continue.

Due to storms and flooding, the final round of the 2024 Insperity Invitational held in Houston this weekend, a golf tournament as part of the PGA Tour Champions, was cancelled, the PGA Tour Champions rules committee said in a statement.

Several hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled at two major Houston airports, the George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Hobby Airport, amid storms. Both airports advised on social media that there would be further delays.

Houston city officials said that the area received about four months' worth of rain in about one week. Additional rainfall is expected in the coming days.

State authorities have urged residents to remain vigilant and take necessary steps to prevent themselves from ending up in a dangerous situation.