THE COLD-HEARTED BASTARD CHRISTIAN GOD, BUSY AS USUAL - 556

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WEATHER/10/17/texas.floods.ap/index.html

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- The National Weather Service predicted some relief

Tuesday for flood-soaked southeast Texas, with downpours expected to end in

the morning.

But forecasters said more flooding was likely for the San Jacinto River near

Humble, which could affect 150 to 300 homes.

Monday's deluge flooded roadways and spawned tornadoes, killing four

motorists. Two children playing in a drainage creek were swept more than a

mile. (Watch cars swamped by floodwaters -- 1:10)

As much as 10 inches of rain fell in the Houston-Galveston area Monday,

closing numerous roads and some public school systems. Fort Bend County

roads were closed and widespread flooding was reported.

"It's scary looking at all this water like this. It concerns me a whole

lot," Charles Smith said as he looked at his submerged front yard south of

Houston. "If we get any more rain, it will be in my house."

"We are well on our way to the clean-up period," said Rusty Cornelius,

administrative coordinator for the Harris County Office of Emergency

Management.

Official rainfall totals for the 24 hours ending at 7 p.m. Monday included

11.71 inches in Conroe, 9.69 inches at Houston's Hobby Airport and 6.52 at

Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport.

For at least four people, the storms were fatal.

Houston residents Patricia Gutierrez, 36, and her daughter Melissa Rojas,

16, died in their submerged sport utility vehicle in an underpass where 8 to

12 feet of water accumulated near Interstate 45.

James Johnston, 56, of Needville, was also found dead in his car, on a state

road along the Brazoria-Fort Bend county line, southwest of Houston.

Water exerts such strong pressure on submerged vehicles, said Sgt. P.E.

Ogden III with the Houston Police Department, that "Arnold Schwarzenegger

couldn't get out."

In the Brazos Valley, several children were swept away as they played in

swift-moving waters. None was harmed.

Authorities found a 14-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl walking on a

Madison County road about 11/2 miles downstream from where they had been

playing in a drainage creek, the Bryan-College Station Eagle reported. "They

were a little scared and cold, but they were fine," Sheriff Dan Douget told

the newspaper.

In other weather-related accidents, a 54-year-old woman was killed when a

pickup hit her car head-on after the driver lost control on a slick farm

road in Brazoria County, said Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper E.J.

King Jr., the Houston Chronicle reported. The truck driver was taken to a

hospital.

Nine members of one family were injured when their SUV skidded off

rain-slicked Interstate 10 and hit a guardrail on their way home from a

family gathering, said Harris County emergency management spokeswoman Gloria

Roemer.

Harris County Sgt. Dana Wolfe said none of the injuries were

life-threatening. Wolfe said one of the victims was a 1-month-old baby, who

was not secured in a car seat and was ejected.

Parts of Interstates 10 and 45 were shut down around Houston, and the

University of Houston and several other schools were closed. (Watch drivers

stranded by floodwaters on I-45 -- 1:15)

Twenty bayous overflowed their banks, but county officials said no

evacuations were ordered.

In Hitchcock, near the Gulf Coast, a tornado tore the roof off a mobile

home, but none of the six people inside were injured. Two other mobile homes

sustained minor damage.

The storm spread as far east as the Louisiana line, where a tornado struck

near the Jefferson County town of China, said emergency management

spokeswoman Darlene Koch. Five mobile homes and two houses were destroyed.

No injuries were reported.

Galveston County emergency management coordinator John Simpson said the

county had "sporadic" power outages, most of them near the trailer park

struck by the high winds.

"Things are pretty good," Simpson said. "We're hoping the rain stays away.

Our creeks are going down, but that will be a long, gradual process."