Flooding from river causes Miss. man's death

VICKSBURG, Miss. – A man pulled from floodwaters near downtown Vicksburg, Miss., has died from what authorities say was a brain injury related to drowning.

The death of 69-year-old Walter Cook is believed to be the first related to the Mississippi River flooding.

Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey says Cook died around 2:30 a.m. Thursday at River Region Medical Center in Vicksburg of "hypoxic brain injury due to drowning." Hypoxia is an abnormal condition resulting from a decrease in the oxygen supplied to or utilized by body tissue.

Two firefighters on a boat patrol spotted Cook in the water Wednesday clinging to a fence in chest-deep water. Officials say Cook was floating in the water when they reached him. They pulled Cook into the boat and took to the hospital.