Area IX FFA Member Dies in Car Crash in Texas, Two Others Injured
According to a Facebook post from the Texas Area IX FFA, a chapter member from the Normangee, Texas FFA passed away in a car crash that occurred early Sunday morning in Madison County. Two other FFA members from the same school were injured in the one-vehicle accident.
Officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety report that the incident happened around 1 a.m. on Sunday, July 17, on FM 978 near the intersection of County Road 314. Three teenage males were traveling in a 1999 Dodge Dakota pick-up truck when a 16-year-old male failed to negotiate a curve in the road and struck a tree. The driver and another 16-year-old passenger were sent to area hospitals for treatment of their injuries. Tragically, a 15-year-old passenger was pronounced deceased at the scene of the accident.
Farm to Market Road 978 is located in between Normangee and Madisonville, Texas, and includes several sharp curves. Posted road signs advise motorists to slow down to 35 mph on some of those roadway sections.
Area IX of the Texas FFA encompasses a large area of east and southeast Texas. This includes the counties in all of Deep East Texas. According to the Texas FFA Area IX website, it includes 87 chapters extending into portions of the Brazos Valley throughout the Piney Woods and into the Beaumont region. Four districts (Piney Woods, McGee Bend, Rice Belt, and Sam Houston) make up the FFA chapters of Area IX. Most of the chapters in Deep East Texas are divided between the Piney Woods and McGee Districts.
Please keep all those involved and affected by this tragedy in your prayers.