Update:
PALESTINE, Texas (AP) – Authorities have found a sixth body following flash flooding in East Texas that also killed a woman and her four great-grandchildren.
The latest victim was identified as 30-year-old Giovani Olivas of Palestine, Texas, who was swept under flood waters.
Palestine police say all six bodies have been taken to Tyler for autopsies, which will be completed on Monday.
More than 7 inches of rain fell in less than an hour late Friday evening, swamping a neighborhood and forcing some people onto their roofs.
Original story:
PALESTINE, Texas (AP) — A police captain says a 64-year-old woman and four grandchildren have been killed after a creek flooded its banks in an East Texas neighborhood.
Capt. James Muniz of the Palestine Police Department tells The Associated Press that six to 10 homes in a Palestine cul-de-sac were severely damaged following heavy rainfall early Saturday.
The five bodies were found near one of the homes before dawn after the floodwaters had receded.
Muniz said the city’s fire department found the bodies. The children were all 9 years old or younger. All other residents of the neighborhood were accounted for.
City officials used a dump truck to rescue one man from the roof of a home.