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

Saturday, May 26th 2007, 2:55 pm

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ Forecasters predicted more heavy thunderstorms in the Plains over the holiday weekend after two days of storms and flooding that left five people dead and one missing in central Texas.

Dozens of people were plucked from rising waters on Friday, and Gov. Rick Perry activated National Guard troops to be deployed in Waco, Austin and San Antonio for the weekend.

Near Fredericksburg, authorities were looking for a man whose sport utility vehicle was swept away 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 Edgar Garcia, 22, who called his mother after he drove around a barricade blocking a swollen creek and got stuck.

Three people died in Killeen, police said. The bodies of two brothers, ages 5 and 6, were found early Friday in a submerged SUV. The boys were riding with their mother and two siblings Thursday when their vehicle was wiped off the road into a gully.

Rescuers saved the mother and two siblings, but the swift-moving water rose too quickly for rescuers to help the boys trapped inside, said Garland Potvin, a Bell County justice of the peace.

Elsewhere in Killeen, the body of a 20-year-old man caught in rushing water was found lodged along a culvert, Potvin said.

Outside Copperas Cove, a husband and wife died late Thursday after attempting to cross floodwaters in their vehicle, said Bill Price, a Coryell County justice of the peace.

About 100 homes, apartment buildings and businesses sustained minor damage Friday, and a few minor injuries were reported, said Dennis Baker, the Bell County emergency management coordinator.

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. 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.