KILLEEN, Texas, June 3 (UPI) — The U.S. Army continued Friday to search for four missing soldiers from Fort Hood a day after an accident that killed five others at the Texas military base in rising floodwaters.
A truckload of soldiers were participating in training maneuvers Thursday when they approached a low-water crossing in an area of the base that is steep and heavily wooded. Their tactical vehicle overturned at the crossing and three of the servicemen immediately drowned, officials said.
Two others were also found dead hours later, but four remain missing and are feared dead.
“It was a situation where the rain had come, the water was rising quickly and we were in the process, at the moment of the event [of closing the road],” spokesman Chris Haug said.
It has not yet been detailed exactly what the soldiers were doing at the crossing, Owl Creek, near Lake Belton, but it was clear the group was operating in rising floodwaters.
“As you’re all aware, this tragedy extends well beyond Fort Hood,” Army Maj. Gen. John Uberti said. “The outpouring of support from around the country is sincerely appreciated.”
NASA on Friday released before-and-after satellite images of the flood area, which highlights the concern of those at Fort Hood and elsewhere across the entire state. Texas has seen historic levels of flooding this week.
The Brazos River, west of Houston, has been particularly swollen, meteorologists say.
Just six weeks after record-setting rainfall, much of Texas has been hit again this week by slow-moving thunderstorms. The water levels on the Brazos rose higher than they have in more than a century, NASA said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has declared states of emergency in 31 counties.
