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Five soldiers were killed and four were missing after an Army troop carrier was washed from a low-water crossing and overturned Thursday in a rain-swollen creek at Fort Hood, the Texas Army post said. Time
Morgan's Point Resort Fire and Rescue works on Lake Belton near the scene of an accident at Fort Hood at Owl Creek Park near Gatesville, Texas, on June 2, 2016. l Miller/The Temple Daily Telegram via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT ORG XMIT: TXTEM300(Photo: Michael Miller, The Temple Daily, Telegram, AP)
Army aircraft, dogs and rescue watercraft on Friday were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>searching a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>20-mile creek that winds through heavily wooded terrain at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas<span style="color: Red;">*</span>looking for<span style="color: Red;">*</span>four soldiers<span style="color: Red;">*</span>missing a day after<span style="color: Red;">*</span>their<span style="color: Red;">*</span>light vehicle overturned in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>fast-rising floodwaters,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>killing five soldiers.
On Friday night, the bodies of the four missing soldiers who were swept away in the creek were found, the Associated Press reported.
"This accident is a tragedy —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the loss of one soldier is too many," said Fort Hood spokesman Chris Haug said Friday.Three soldiers who were plucked from the swift floodwaters on<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Thursday<span style="color: Red;">*</span>were in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>stable condition, according to officials at the military facility<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in Killeen, in central Texas.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Three of the dead<span style="color: Red;">*</span>were found shortly after the accident<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>two more bodies were found Thursday night.
Gen. Robert Abrams, commanding general of Army Forces Command, in a statement, called the deaths a "profound tragedy" and said the focus was now on "search and rescue for the missing soldiers, assistance to the surviving soldiers as well as those in their units, and our full support to all their families.”
Widespread flooding has been reported across Texas because of severe storms and heavy rain, some falling at the rate of 3 inches an hour, that have slammed the state<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>recent days.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster across 31 counties.
Haug<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the soldiers were training aboard a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>2 ½-ton truck, known as a Light Medium Tactical Vehicle, when it overturned along Owl Creek, about 70 miles north of Austin. Fort Hood, which covers 214,000 acres, is one of the largest military facilities<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in the world.
At the time of the accident, Haug said,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>commanders were in the processing of closing roads because of the danger of flooding. “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 roads,” he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said.
The road the soldiers were using<span style="color: Red;">*</span>isn’t marked as a low-water crossing, which means it typically is not<span style="color: Red;">*</span>prone to flooding, said Lt. Col. Sunset Belinsky, a spokeswoman for the 1st Cavalry Division,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Army<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Times<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reports.
Nearly the entire eastern half of Texas and portions of Oklahoma remained under a flash flood watch or warning Friday as the effects of days of heavy rains linger in creeks and rivers, the Associated Press reported.
The cause of the ongoing rain is a stubborn, slow-moving storm that continues to spin across east-central Texas, drawing Gulf of Mexico moisture onshore, WeatherBug meteorologist Mark Ellinwood said.
Showers and thunderstorms are expected to drench the southern Plains and lower Mississippi Valley through the weekend, the National Weather Service warned. <span style="color: Red;">*</span>With much of the region already saturated from previous heavy rains, flash flooding will continue to be a major concern.
Contributing: Doyle Rice and Steph Solis in McLean, Va.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Follow Doug Stanglin on Twitter @dstanglin
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