BRENHAM, Texas — (AP) — The body of a 10-year-old girl who was swept away in rapidly rising floodwaters has been recovered, Brenham Fire Chief Mark Donovan said Tuesday.
Her body was found as forecasters warned that the day could bring more heavy rains and flooding to the Houston area and the state's coast.
The girl was identified by authorities as Devah Woods, a third-grade student at Brenham Elementary School.
Woods and her sister were walking home from school around 4 p.m. Monday when they got caught in floodwaters from a creek, said Melinda Gordon, a spokesperson for the city.
Authorities are not sure if Woods slipped and fell in the creek, but her sister ran to get help, Gordon said. A man who saw her get swept away and a Brenham police officer tried to rescue her but were unsuccessful.
The man “got her backpack, but she got away from him,” Gordon said. The man and the officer were treated by paramedics and released.
Teams of people scoured the city Monday night, using dogs and drones with thermal imaging to try to find the girl. The water rescue operation was scaled back overnight when heavy thunderstorms moved through, but four swift water rescue teams resumed operations early Tuesday, the Fire Department said via social media.
The department worked with more than a dozen supporting agencies in the search.
Around 10:45 a.m., a dive team with the Texas Department of Public Safety told authorities that it had found her body, Brenham Police Lt. Steven Eilert said during a news conference.
“We have taken care of her as much as we could. Our hearts go out to (her) family. It is a difficult thing,” Eilert said.
Woods’ mother attended the news conference but did not speak.
The girl's body was found 1.2 miles (1.9 kilometers) from where she went missing, Gordon said.
Brenham, which has about 19,000 residents, is located about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northwest of Houston.
“We’re a very, very special community, very tight-knit Christian community. The response from everyone was overwhelming,” Mayor Atwood Kenjura said. “We don’t like the outcome that happened.”
At Woods' school, support services were being provided for students and staff, according to the Brenham Independent School District.
“Our hearts are broken for Devah’s family, and we ask that you continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers during this unimaginably difficult time,” the district said in a social media post.
The next round of severe storms threatened to bring as much as 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain Tuesday to parts of southeastern Texas, according to the National Weather Service in Houston. Strong rip currents and flooding along Gulf-facing beaches, especially during high tide, were also forecast.
A large swath of Texas and parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi were under flood watches early in the day.
Just last week, storms drenched much of southern Oklahoma and northern Texas, washing out roads and causing hundreds of flight cancelations and delays.
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This story has been updated to correct that Mark Donovan is Brenham's fire chief, not its police chief.
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