United States officials confirmed that a police officer in Houston drowned in the flood waters caused tropical Hurricane Harvey. The law enforcement officer, sergeant Steve Harvey, drowned early Sunday morning while driving to work.
Heavy flooding in Houston
According to The Independent, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said that sergeant Harvey made a wrong turn and got trapped by flood waters filling the road he was driving on. He tried to vacate his car and get away, but the floods overwhelmed him.
At the time of his death, Perez was just two days away from celebrating his 60th birthday.
He had worked for the Houston Police Department for more than three decades.
According to the Police Chief, Perez's wife and father-in-law tried to convince him to skip work, but he insisted on joining the rescue efforts, reportedly telling his family that he had work to do.
According to local officials, the law enforcement officer drove around for more than two hours trying to find a safe route to join in the efforts to rescue people from the havoc caused by Hurricane Harvey.
When he failed to find a path, the officer contacted his command center and requested to be allowed to the nearest work station instead. He, however, failed to show up.
After Perez's wife reported that she had not heard from her husband, a search for the veteran police officer commenced on Monday.
Divers recovered his body on Tuesday morning under a highway overpass.
An emotional Avecedo paid tribute to Perez saying that elderly police officer was a sweet, gentle public servant who laid down his life in the commission of his duties.
Funeral arrangements will be put on hold until search and rescue efforts in Houston have ended.
Hurricane Harvey has caused huge flooding in the streets of Houston. Hurricane Harvey touched down in the area on Saturday causing more than two feet of rain to pound the area.
Thousands of people have fled their homes to escape the historical flooding.
Thousands fleeing from Hurricane Harvey
On Monday, Police Chief Art Acevedo explained that police officers have rescued more than 3,400 people since storm Harvey hit the area.
Acevedo added that more than 160 law enforcement officers have been affected by Hurricane Harvey. Many of the concerned police officers remain at work.
Lieutenant Mike Hart said that the Coast Guard has rescued an additional 3000 families affected by Harvey. He added that the Guard is logging more than 1000 distress calls per hour.
According to the Harris County Sherrif's office, Hurricane Harvey has caused the deaths of at least 14 people so far, with the police officer's demise brought the number to 15.
Fox News reported that as of Tuesday, 13000 have sought shelter from the storm.
