Woman, child drown as heavy rain brings flooding to Texas

DALLAS – A woman and her young child have drowned after their car was swept into a flooded culvert in Fort Worth amid heavy rainfall across North Texas and other parts of the state.

Fort Worth police officer Jimmy Pollozani says the car had stalled in floodwaters Saturday near the culvert. He says passing vehicles created waves that pushed the car into the culvert, submerging it.

The bodies of the woman, who was in her 20s, and her 2-year-old were later recovered.

The soil already was saturated from rain in recent days, causing heavy rainfall that began Friday to overwhelm creeks and turn streets into streams.

The National Weather Service issued flash-flood watches for parts of the state.

Up to 7 inches (18 centimetres) of rain was forecast for areas around San Antonio.