BRENHAM, Texas — Rescue crews in Texas were searching for a 10-year-old girl swept away by rapidly rising floodwaters and forecasters warned that Tuesday could bring more heavy rains and flooding to the Houston area and the state’s coast.
Teams of people scoured the city of Brenham on Monday night, using drones with thermal imaging and dogs to try to find the girl. But as heavy thunderstorms moved through the area, the water rescue operation was forced to be scaled back, according to the Brenham Fire Department.
The department was working with around a dozen supporting agencies to find the girl, who was last seen at about 4 p.m. Monday.
“There is bad weather on its way so we ask for prayers for the family and all the first responders involved in the search and rescue,” the department said in a social media post.
The next round of severe storms could bring as much as 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain Tuesday to parts of southeastern Texas, according to the National Weather Service in Houston.
The weather service also warned of a series of strong rip currents and flooding along Gulf-facing beaches, especially during high tides.
A large swath of the state, along with parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi were under a National Weather Service flood watch early Tuesday.
Just last week, storms drenched much of southern Oklahoma and northern Texas, flooding and washing out roads and causing hundreds of flights to be canceled or delayed at major airports.