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The deaths all occurred in the northeast part of the city, where
authorities found over a dozen vehicles in the water. More than
a dozen smashed and overturned vehicles littered a creek after
being tossed and carried by floodwaters.
Some of the people rescued in that area said they were swept off
an interstate access road by “sudden fast rising water,” San
Antonio Fire Department spokesperson Joe Arrington said in an
email. He said floodwaters swept vehicles into a creek and
carried them downstream.
Crews brought in search dogs Thursday afternoon to help find
missing people, Arrington said.
By afternoon, crews could be seen pulling heavily damaged
vehicles out of the creek.
Calls for water rescues began before sunrise, officials said.
Two women and two men were found dead, according to police Chief
William McManus, who did not have their ages.
The fire department made 70 water rescues, officials said. Fire
officials said that while most of the rescue calls consisted of
crews helping drivers from vehicles that were stalled in high
water, several "harrowing" calls involved their crews entering
swift-moving water to rescue someone.
Fire officials said in a press release that the rescue effort in
the area where the people were found dead was “extremely
difficult." Officials said 10 people whose cars had been swept
away in that area were rescued from trees and bushes about a
mile from where they had entered the water.
The flooding occurred after a round of slow-moving showers and
thunderstorms in the San Antonio area during the early morning
hours Thursday, said Eric Platt, a meteorologist with the
National Weather Service.
Over 7 inches (17 centimeters) of rain fell in parts of the San
Antonio area, according to the weather service.
By midmorning, flooding was receding, though Platt noted that
rain was still falling in some areas. He didn’t expect
additional rain to be as heavy as overnight but said anything
that falls on saturated ground can lead to flooding.
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Stengle reported from Dallas.
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