A shivering child was found clinging to her drowned mom in floodwaters caused by Hurricane Harvey on Tuesday.
CBS affiliate KFDM-TV said the woman was killed while trying to carry her child to safety near Interstate 10, making it the first storm-related fatality occurring in the Golden Triangle, which is the area between the cities of Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange.
Police confirmed the incident, stating the Beaumont woman and her daughter had been driving along a service road when they encountered high water. The woman pulled her vehicle into the Plaza 10 parking lot but got stuck in the flood waters.
According to reports, she got out of the car and grabbed her daughter in an effort to save their lives, but got swept into the canal and drifted about half a mile from her vehicle.
“Two Beaumont Police Officers and two Beaumont Fire Rescue divers in a Zodiac boat spotted the mother floating with the small child,” an official police statement read. “The child was holding on to her mother.”
Emergency rescue officials were able to recover the mother and child and CPR performed on the woman, who was unresponsive due to hypothermia.
According to police, a member of the public assisted in transporting the mother and daughter with his truck to an ambulance, however, the woman was declared dead.
It has since been reported that the child is in a stable condition.
Since making landfall over the weekend, Hurricane Harvey has claimed at least 30 lives.
The New York Times reported The Houston Police Department had rescued more than 3,500 people, while city fire Chief Samuel Peña reported 400 rescues made by his department.
It was further reported the Harris County Sheriff’s Office had made more than 2,200 rescues.
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