The US army says the bodies of four missing Fort Hood soldiers whose truck was swept away in a rain-swollen creek during a training exercise on Thursday have been found.
Maj Gen John Uberti says the last bodies were found on Friday, a day after the truck overturned in Owl Creek at Fort Hood. Five more soldiers were killed in the initial incident, while three others were injured in the exercise at the sprawling base in central Texas.
Fort Hood spokesman John Miller has said a crossing was flooded after two days of heavy rains and that the swift floodwaters swept the vehicle from the road.
Central and southeast Texas have been inundated with rain in recent days, and more than half of the state is under flood watches or warnings.
At least six other people have died in recent floods in the state.
Texas governor Greg Abbott is urging people in flooded areas of the state to heed warnings when they are told to evacuate and to not drive through high water or around barricades.
Abbott gave a briefing Friday after taking an aerial tour of flooded Fort Bend and Brazoria counties, south of Houston. He says he has seen and heard too many stories of people being trapped in rising waters.
The governor says the accident at Fort Hood demonstrates that even trained soldiers can be swept away. He says the Fort Hood deaths show that everyone needs to understand the power of rising water and the danger it can pose.
Heavy rains have pounded the state for days and more storms are expected over the weekend. Abbott declared a state of disaster in 31 counties on Wednesday. Many counties, several in the Houston region, remain under a flash flood watch until Saturday afternoon.
The National Weather Service also maintained a flash flood watch for north and central Texas through Friday evening.
Some of the worst flooding is in Fort Bend County, south-west of Houston. It is home to more than 700,000 people, many living in recently built subdivisions close to the Brazos river.
The Fort Bend County office of emergency management said on its website that the rains caused the Brazos to rise above 53ft, its highest level for 103 years. On Thursday it reached almost 55ft, 10ft above flood stage.
On Friday, the Texas department of criminal justice began evacuating about 1,700 inmates from a prison near the river to other prisons in Texas. About 2,600 inmates from two nearby prisons were moved last Sunday.
Heavy downpours last week submerged some suburban areas to the north of Houston. The Houston area, which was badly hit by flooding on and around Memorial Day last year, endured another major event on 18 April this year when some neighbourhoods received more than 16in of rain in a few hours.
Eight people died – several drowned in their cars – while more than 1,000 homes were flooded and an estimated $5bn in damage was caused.
Last month, Brenham, between Austin and Houston, broke its rainfall record when more than 16in fell in 24 hours. At least six people died in floods last week in Texas, including Darren Mitchell.
He died near Brenham on 26 May when his truck became trapped in flood waters, flipped over and was submerged, a witness told KHOU local news. Moments earlier he had posted a picture of the rising waters from inside his vehicle with the comment: “And all I wanted to do was go home.”
The dramatic rainfall totals across much of the state are in stark contrast with previous years. According to the NWS, 2011 was Texas’s driest and second-hottest year on record.
Two years ago, 70% of the state was in drought. Now, less than 1.5% of Texas is in drought conditions.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report
