Could Devah Woods, Brenham, Texas girl drowning death have been averted? 10 year old girl found dead a day after being swept away by flash floods as she walked home from school along with her sister.
A 10 year old Texas girl swept away by sudden floodwaters has been found dead, less than a day after she and her sister had been walking home from school when they were caught by a sudden downpour.
Devah Woods, a 10 year old and her sister were walking home Brenham Elementary when the girls got caught in flash rain just on 4.30 p.m, near Fireman’s Park, FOX26 reported.
Fire officials who discovered the missing girl’s body Tuesday morning just on 10 am say the girls had crossed a bridge when rising waters along the side of the bridge swept Devah away.
Desperate search for 10 year old girl swept away by rising flood waters
A male neighbor was able to grab the third grader initially, but the water was too powerful, and the child was swept out of his arms, fire officials said according to KTRK.
Authorities said a Brenham police officer also got in the water but was unable to locate Devah. The officer had also been swept away by the water during the rescue attempt but was located downstream and treated by EMS.
Rescue efforts utilized land-based search teams as well as drones equipped with thermal imaging and specially trained canines, officials said, noting that a total of 24 local agencies joined in the search to find her, according to KDFW.
Read a May 6, Facebook release from the Brenham Independent School District:
‘Our hearts are broken for Devah’s family, and we ask that you continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers during this unimaginably difficult time.’
Could a third grade girl’s death have been averted?
Devah’s mother, Veronica Williams, was present at Tuesday’s press conference when the tragic news of Devah’s body being recovered was shared. The mother was observed visibly upset, KBTX reported.
‘We’re a very, very special community,’ Brenham Mayor Attwood Kenjura said. ‘We’re, I think, a very tight-knit, Christian community and the response from everyone was overwhelming. [I] can’t even begin to start to thank the responders who were on the scene, and a difficult recovery of a young lady.’
Officials denied the school children had taken undue risks making their way home.
‘This is normal behavior for her to walk home and walk by the creek and get to her house. This was nothing unusual. This was a quickly rising creek that nobody could have seen coming,’ Melinda Gordon, with the City of Brenham, said.
It remained unclear what provisions had been made for school children and the community, if any, ahead of forecast storms.
The same weather system that caused Monday’s flooding was expected to produce more flooding rainfall through Tuesday night, especially from eastern Texas into Louisiana and southern Mississippi, where localized rainfall totals could be up to a half-foot according to weather.com.
The Brenham Police Department has taken over the investigation of the case.
Brenham is about a 75-mile drive northwest from Houston.
