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A fifth death is linked to the devastating floods in eastern Texas caused by tropical storm Imelda, one of the wettest tropical cyclones in US history.
Authorities say a 52-year-old Florida man was found dead Thursday in his stuck van along Interstate 10 near Beaumont, near the border between Texas and Louisiana. Jefferson County spokeswoman Allison Getz said that although the floodwaters have leaked into Mark Dukaj's truck, investigators do not believe that he drowned, although They believe that his death is related to the storm. An autopsy will determine the cause.
A truck drives on a flooded highway as the remains of tropical storm Imelda continue in southeast Texas on Friday, September 20, 2019 in Mauriceville, Texas. (Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle via AP)
Hundreds of homes and other buildings in the Houston area were damaged by the storm, bringing back unpleasant memories of Hurricane Harvey – which dumped more than 50 centimeters of rain on the area two years ago. Imelda, the first named storm to hit the area since then, dropped more than 40 inches of rain in parts when it devastated an area from Houston to the border with Louisiana.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has already declared the state of catastrophe for the counties affected by Imelda and officials from Harris County, where Houston resides, were trying to determine whether losses in millions of uninsured dollars were sufficient to trigger a federal disaster declaration.
The heaviest rains ended Thursday night in southeast Texas, but forecasters warned that parts of northeastern Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana could see a sudden flood while the remains of Imelda would have moved to the north.
Authorities say that two of Imelda's deaths occurred in the Houston area: an unidentified man in his forties or fifties who drowned on Thursday while driving a van under water of flood of a depth of 8 feet and a man whose body would have been found Friday to have drowned.
Mike Davis, left, and Trent Tipton, the two workers in Woodville, Texas, cross the floodwaters to try to restore power to a customer on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019 in the area of Mauriceville, Texas. The floodwaters are beginning to retreat into most of the Houston area after flooding remnants of tropical storm Imelda in parts of Texas. (Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle via AP)
In Jefferson County, a 19-year-old officer drowned and was electrocuted Thursday while he was trying to put his horse safe. Another man, Malcolm Foster, a 47-year-old Beaumont resident, was found dead in his vehicle.
TROPICAL STORM IMELDA: 2 DEATHS AT THE TEXAS, INCLUDING A MAN WHO IS TRYING TO SAVE THE FLOOD HORSE
"The problem is that you can not get 40 inches of rain in 72 hours and you're perfectly prepared for that," Allison Getz, spokesperson for the county, told The Associated Press. from Jefferson. fully assess what happened. "
Stephen Gilbert, left, and his father-in-law sit in front of their flooded property on Friday, September 20, 2019 in the Mauriceville, Texas area. The floodwaters are beginning to retreat into most of the Houston area after flooding remnants of tropical storm Imelda in parts of Texas. "I'm at my third home," said Gilbert, who lives behind his father-in-law. "I would not go anywhere else in the world," he said. "Anyway, we only have family." (Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle via AP)
A section of Interstate 10 just east of Houston remained closed on Saturday after at least two fleeing barges struck two bridges carrying traffic to the east and west. Nearly 123,000 vehicles normally cross bridges every day, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. The Coast Guard said witnesses had announced Friday morning that nine barges were off their moorings in a shipyard.
Two barges are still lodged against the bridges, said Emily Black, a spokeswoman for the state's transportation department.
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"The current is really strong at the moment, so it's kind of pushed against the columns," she said.
The inspectors hope that the waters will retreat and that the current will slow down enough for the barges to be removed this weekend, to allow a better assessment of the damage to the bridges.
Melissa Leon of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to the report
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