Rain slows, but flooding still threat in Southeast Texas

KILLEEN, Texas – The heavy rain that’s been hovering over parts of southeast and central Texas and caused deadly flooding began to lift Saturday, but officials said the flooding emergency near the Gulf Coast was worsening and Army officials kept up their investigation of a training exercise that turned deadly at Fort Hood.

Only the wheels of an Army transport truck were visible after swift floodwaters washed the 2 1/2-ton vehicle from a low-water crossing on Thursday, killing nine soldiers, Coryell County emergency medical services chief Jeff Mincy told the Killeen Daily Herald. Mincy said when he arrived at the scene Thursday, firefighters had pulled the three surviving soldiers from the rushing waters of usually dry Owl Creek.

“I can’t estimate how fast it was flowing, but it was faster than I would have felt comfortable putting anything into the water,” Mincy said. “When we did find the vehicle, we could see the tires sticking up out of the water, so in that position where the vehicle settled, it had to have been about 8 feet deep.”

The bodies of five soldiers from the central Texas post were recovered Thursday and four were found Friday, while the three surviving soldiers were discharged Friday from Fort Hood’s hospital and returned to duty.

In southeast Texas, water levels began to recede Saturday along upstream portions of the Brazos River, but the peril increased downstream as the water churned toward the Gulf of Mexico.

The Brazos River stood at 52.55 feet Saturday at Rosharon in northern Brazoria County, 9.55 feet above flood stage. It was expected to crest at 52.8 feet Sunday – the third-highest crest on record at that gauge.