Overnight Flooding Kills Five People in Texas Amid Violent Winds, Heavy Rains

A great-grandmother and her four great-grandchildren were killed amid heavy flooding in the east Texas town of Palestine, police said, as severe storms pummeled the region overnight Friday. 

"The water just came up extremely fast," Palestine Police Chief James Muniz told NBC News. "Before they knew it, water was waist-high, then chest-high, and then it was roof-line." 

The victims, who were discovered at about 3:45 a.m. local time, were identified Saturday afternoon as 64-year-old Lenda Asberry and her great-grandchildren Jamonicka Johnson, 6; Von Anthony Johnson Jr., 7; Devonte Asberry, 8, and Venetia Asberry, 9. She was their legal guardian, her son told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth. 

Palestine police said an additional six to eight families on their block had been displaced by the fast-moving floodwaters, and everyone else was accounted for.

Sometime after midnight, police received word that Lenda Asberry and her great-grandkids were missing, Muniz said.

"We started to get overwhelmed with calls," he said. "We had fire and other city workers out looking for them and once the water receded, we found them." 

The children lived with Asberry and were the only people in the home when the waters began to rise. 

Other residents on the block attempted to salvage belongings from their inundated homes. 

"All the residences are empty right now. The people are going to go back in a see if they can salvage anything," Muniz said.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/storm-weary-south-gears-more-rain-hail-tornadoes-n565091