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Texas inmates being moved due to flooding risk

Officials say they are evacuating about 4,500 inmates from three state prisons because the nearby Brazos River is rising from Hurricane Harvey’s heavy rain

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A truck in flood waters passes a home damaged in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017, in Aransas Pass, Texas.

AP Photo/Eric Gay

Associated Press

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Texas officials say they are evacuating about 4,500 inmates from three state prisons in Brazoria County south of Houston because the nearby Brazos River is rising from Hurricane Harvey’s heavy rain.

The Department of Criminal Justice says inmates from the Ramsey, Terrell, and Stringfellow Units in Rosharon are being taken by bus to other prisons in east Texas.

Additional food and water has been delivered to the prisons receiving the displaced inmates.

Harvey came ashore in Texas on Friday night as the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. in more than a decade. It has since weakened to a Category 1 storm.