At Least 5 Killed In Texas Flooding; Man Missing After SUV Swept Into Creek

Friday, May 25th 2007, 6:33 pm

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ Two days of heavy storms and flooding have killed five people in central Texas, and bad weather was expected to continue pounding the Plains over the holiday weekend.

A man remained missing in Texas after his sport utility vehicle was swept away in a swollen creek, officials said. Several other people were rescued, and Gov. Rick Perry activated search and rescue teams.

Three people died in Killeen, police said. Outside Copperas Cove, a husband and wife driving home died late Thursday after attempting to cross floodwaters, said Bill Price, a Coryell County justice of the peace. A man's body was found late Thursday, but other details weren't immediately available.

Authorities were searching near Fredericksburg for Edgar Garcia, who was washed away in his SUV during storms that have dumped about 8 inches of rain in the area since Thursday.

Lt. Jim Judd of the Gillespie County sheriff's office said about 30 people spent Friday looking for Garcia, who called his mother after he drove around a barricade blocking a swollen creek and got stuck.

Perry activated National Guard troops to be deployed in Waco, Austin and San Antonio for the weekend.

In Kansas, rivers and creeks continued to rise Friday in the central and south-central parts of the state following a downpour two days earlier. The most serious flooding was expected along the Arkansas River in Harvey County, the National Weather Service said.

Floodwaters closed off all roads leading into the central Kansas town of New Cambria, Saline County emergency management officials said Friday afternoon. Rising rivers also covered many of the streets in the small town east of Salina.

At least 60 homes and businesses were flooded but no injuries were reported, and only voluntary evacuations had been ordered.