The overnight flooding was part of a unsafe series of storms that tore through parts of the Plains and South on Friday and early on Saturday, knocking out power and prompting disaster declarations in at least two Texas communities, the news channel said.
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Police said it appeared Asberry and the children attempted to escape the home, but water swept them away. The flooding on Timber Drive also displaced six to eight other families.
Palestine Police department said residents reported finding the bodies of two dead children in the front yard and later searched the woman’s home and discovered three more bodies. All other residents of the neighborhood were accounted for.
“The water was rising so he got out of his vehicle”.
The Palestine Herald-Press reports that Merta White was waiting to be rescued from the roof of her house when she saw a bump in the water.
“I thought it was a mailbox, but then I realized what it really was, and I started screaming”, she said of seeing the body.
The deceased were identified as 64-year-old Lenda Asberry and her grandchildren 6-year-old Jamonicka Johnson; 7-year-old Von Anthony Johnson Jr.; 8-year-old Devonte Asberry and 9-year-old Venetia Asberry. “I believe we’re still missing one person that is just outside the city limits”, Palestine Assistant Fire Chief Kyle Betterton told The Weather Channel. Rescue crews used fire trucks and dump trucks in an effort to evacuate affected residents.
The search continued and rescuers found the bodies of two additional children and an adult female.
Hail the size of quarters and golf balls was reported in Tarrant County where Fort Worth is located, according to the weather service, and street flooding of 3-4 inches was reported in Hopkins County.
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The police department began receiving reports that residences in the 100 block of Timber Drive were taking on flooding, which reached the roofs of some homes, according to the report.
