Driver deaths on flooded Houston-area roads prompt review

HOUSTON – The deaths of eight drivers whose bodies were pulled from vehicles inundated by this week’s torrential rains in the Houston area have prompted local leaders to push for improvements in how they warn people about the dangers of flooded roads.

Houston and nearby counties have been hit with more than a foot of rain since Sunday night. Six of the driver deaths occurred in the city or suburbs of Houston, while two happened in surrounding counties. Three of the deaths were at the same Houston underpass.

The flooding has forced thousands of people from their homes as creeks and bayous became overwhelmed.

“There’s no question that not enough has been done” to warn drivers, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said Thursday. Emmett is leading an effort to ensure drivers are properly notified about flooded roads during heavy storms.

The deaths at the Houston underpass prompted Emmett to take action. While one woman drove around a barricade at one side of the underpass, Emmett said no barricades were placed on a different part of the underpass and two drivers unknowingly sent their vehicles into dark floodwaters.

“If it’s somebody who drives around a barricade and goes into the water, that’s problematic. I don’t know if any system can stop somebody like that,” he said. “But the other two deaths were completely preventable.”

He said in the short term, he will speak with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the offices of local constables to make sure deputies and other officers are stationed at underpasses and other flooded locations.

Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Raquelle Lewis said her agency is committed to working to find solutions to the problem.

“There is always going to be the potential that people will make decisions that are not necessarily in their best interests or life-preserving,” Lewis said. “What we will do is to look at what can we feasibly do to minimize the potential for those instances.”