A Texas mom passed away on Tuesday after trying to save her 3-year-old daughter during the massive flooding of Hurricane Harvey.
USA Today reports that authorities found the unidentified woman inside a canal with an infant in Beaumont. Apparently, the woman’s vehicle got stuck while driving with her daughter along an I-10 service road. She pulled over, took her child out of the vehicle, and at some point, got swept into a canal. She was found around a half mile from her vehicle.
After authorities spotted the woman, Beaumont Police and fire rescue divers grabbed her and the baby before they disappeared under a trestle. Beaumont Police reported that the child would have died had they went under the trestle, as the divers wouldn’t have been able to reach her.
Storm Claims Life of Mother- Child in Stable CondtionTuesday, August 29, 2017 at 3:37 PM Officers responded to the…
Posted by Beaumont Police on Tuesday, August 29, 2017
“The child was holding on to her mother. The first responders got to the mother and child just before they went under a trestle,” authorities said.
The little girl appeared to have hypothermia, but fortunately the quick thinking of two Beaumont Police and fire rescue divers saved the little girl’s life. The child’s mother, who died during the incident, also saved her baby’s life by doing her best to shield the little girl from the high waters.
Det. Dupree doing water rescues.
Posted by Beaumont Police on Tuesday, August 29, 2017
“They were in the water for quite some time,” Officer Carol Riley, a spokeswoman for the Beaumont Police Department, told PEOPLE. “When the baby was found, the baby was clinging to her. The mother did the best she could to keep her child up over the water….The baby also had a backpack that was helping her float on her back and she was holding on to her mom.”
Authorities reported that the little girl is in stable condition.
Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
[Feature Photo: AP/Jason Dearen]
