{"id":412973,"date":"2017-08-30T07:49:15","date_gmt":"2017-08-30T07:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2017\/08\/30\/houston-police-officer-dies-in-flood\/"},"modified":"2017-08-30T07:49:15","modified_gmt":"2017-08-30T07:49:15","slug":"houston-police-officer-dies-in-flood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/08\/30\/houston-police-officer-dies-in-flood\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Police Officer dies in flood"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/aside>\n

A Houston police officer has died after he became trapped in flood waters whilst trying to get to work, the city police chief has said.<\/p>\n

Police Chief Art Acevedo said Sergeant Steve Perez, 60, drowned when his vehicle entered high waters as he drove to work on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce our dive team got there it was too treacherous to go under and look for him\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

Record rainfall over the past few days has caused huge floods in Houston.<\/p>\n

Chief Acevedo said Perez\u2019 family urged him not to leave the house but the officer told them, \u201cWe have work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as we wanted to recover him last night, we could not put more officers at risk, for what we knew in our hearts was going to be a recovery mission.\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

Sergeant Perez was a 34-year veteran of the Houston Police Department.<\/p>\n

In a statement<\/strong>\u00a0released on Twitter, the police force said: \u201cSergeant Perez was bravely serving the City of Houston in the face of this unprecedented weather-related disaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cWords cannot adequately express the sense of loss the Perez family and their extended Houston Police family are experiencing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ask that everyone keep him and his family in their thoughts and prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unprecedented flooding has forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes, particularly in the Houston area where two dams are overflowing.<\/p>\n

At least nine people are reported to have died, and rescuers are still trying to reach others that remain stranded.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n