4-year-old dies after being swept away in North Texas flood waters
JOHNSON COUNTY — A 4-year-old child died after being swept away by flood waters early Sunday morning.
According to Johnson County Emergency Management, someone called 911 around 2 a.m. to report a car stuck in swift-moving water. The caller saw two adults and a young boy trying to get out of the car and get to dry land, but all three were swept into the flood waters.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office identified the boy as 4-year-old Lucas Warren of Burleson.
First responders found the two adults around 5 a.m. and took them to the hospital. The child's body was found a few hours later.
"It's very sad when we can't be there to save everybody," said Johnson County Emergency Management director Jamie Moore.
He rushed to the scene off CR 528 in rural Johnson County early Sunday, but his car also got stuck in floodwaters.
"I'm a father, of course it hits me," Moore said. "There's a reason I was responding that night to that specific call and not another one. I didn't make it to the call. I ended up being stuck on my own roof for an hour and a half and couldn't help."
First responders made 16 other water rescues across Johnson County this weekend, in addition to that fatal call. According to Moore, crews were out at the time it happened monitoring the roads and putting up barriers when necessary.
"The challenge that public safety faces in a flash flood is you don't know where the flash flood is going to occur," he said. "It may be in the south part of the county, it may be in the west part of the county. We just don't know until it starts to happen."
At the peak of the flash flooding, 32 roads were closed in Johnson County. Moore says that number is down to seven, as of noon Monday.
With rain in the forecast, Moore says the area could see more flash flooding towards the end of the week.
He urges people to stay weather-aware and never attempt to drive through floodwaters.
*The child was initially identified as a 5-year-old. Johnson County Emergency Management and the Medical Exainer's Office identified the child as 4 years old.
