Man films stormwater drain pipes pushed up through roadway in Texas moments after crossing
A Texan man almost fell victim to deadly flooding after he crossed a country road moments before filming tonnes of dirt storm drains get washed away in the torrent.
Allen Laneigh Childers was in his way to work in Lindale when he crossed a small country road built across a stream the flowed through two large stormwater drain pipes.
Childers crossed the stream in a car moments before the force of the water carrying silt and debris pushed the storm water pipes from their bearing through the roadway.
"Here goes the culvert," the Texan shouts as the road is ripped up in front of him.
"Oh my god, that is crazy. Thank you lord I got off that," he says to someone off-screen. "I just moved just in time, I was just parked over there."
Water carried the pipes into the flooding creek where they became stuck before the video ended.
The flooding has claimed the lives of six people, including a great-grandmother and four of her great-grandchildren who were killed and another person was washed away in floods caused by storms that unleashed tornadoes, damaging hail and torrential rains on several central US states.
The flood victims in Palestine, Texas, 160 km southeast of Dallas, escaped a house where flood waters had reached the roof line and were then swept away, Palestine police Captain James Muniz said.
"They were able to get out but they were washed away," he said, adding their bodies were recovered on Saturday.
Those killed were identified as Jamonicka Johnson, six, Von Johnson Jr., seven, Devonte Asberry, eight, Venetia Asberry, nine and Lenda Asberry, 64, the city said.
A man, about 30 years old, remained missing elsewhere in Anderson County, according to the sheriff's office.
Seven homes were evacuated and temporary shelters were established, officials said. The city received 19 centimetres of rain in less than an hour, which caused the floods.
"I don't recall ever seeing this much water rise so fast and in such a short period of time," Palestine Mayor Bob Herrington said in a statement where he also offered condolences to the family of the five victims.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch extending from east Texas into much of Mississippi and a severe thunderstorm watch for New Orleans and the southern Louisiana region.
"Strong to severe thunderstorms are expected today into this evening across the lower Mississippi Valley, Tennessee Valley, Ozarks and the Ohio Valley," it said.
Strong winds in the Houston area downed trees and cut power lines, the service said. As of 10:30 am local time, more than 4,200 customers in the region were without power, CenterPoint Energy reported.
There were seven reported tornadoes from the storm system on Friday in Texas and Oklahoma, it said. A twister caused damage to several structures and ripped through mobile homes in Ninnekah, about 80 kilometres southwest of Oklahoma City, local news reports said.
