Mother dies trying to save her daughter while escaping from Hurricane Harvey

A mother in Texas has died as she tried to get herself and her daughter to safety in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

Police in the state issued a statement saying that the woman in Beaumont, east of Houston, had died trying to escape the floodwaters but had managed to get her daughter to safety, who was recovered by rescue teams.

The mother had driven to a car park at a cinema in the town at around 3.35pm on Tuesday 29 August when floodwaters trapped the vehicle.

The pair escaped from the car but were swept half a mile away into a drainage canal. Officials spotted the pair floating in the water and launched a rescue mission.

Two police officers and fire rescue officers used a rubber boat to reach the pair and managed to drag them onto the boat.

The child, suffering from hypothermia was responsive, however, the mother was unresponsive and could not be revived.

Around 20 people have been confirmed dead so far in the storm which made landfall on Friday 25 August. The death toll is expected to rise significantly once floodwaters recede in the coming days and weeks.

The hurricane has since been downgraded to a tropical storm and has made landfall for a second time in the neighbouring state of Louisiana.

The city of New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, is braced for flash floods with an estimated 10 inches of rain set to fall in just 36 hours.