Saturday, May 25, 2013

San Antonio flooding kills 1; 200-plus rescued

 Flood waters cover eight lanes of Highway 281, Saturday, May 25, 2013, in San Antonio. The San Antonio International Airport by Saturday afternoon had recorded nearly 10 inches of rain since midnight. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
san antonio ( ap ) — torrential rains swamped san antonio with flash floods on saturday, leaving not less than one person dead as emergency workers in boats rushed to actually rescue more often 200 residents stranded in cars and homes.

finally it was pretty crazy, aforementioned gera hinojosa, a valet parking cars downtown after the storm. finally it was pretty surprising. we hardly got any warning about it.

for one girl, the storm turned fatal rapidly : trapped in her car, she climbed onto the roof however was swept away in floodwaters, aforementioned san antonio fire department spokesman christian bove. her body was later found against a fence, he aforementioned. her name wasn't immediately released.

authorities were looking for not less than 2 other players — one who went missing after being trapped in another car as well as a teenage boy who was swept away whereas attempting to actually cross the swollen cibolow creek in suburban schertz.

the fire department conducted more often 235 rescues across the town, a few by inflatable boats, authorities aforementioned. they actually continued their search into your evening.

well be out there as long as daylight permits and once more within the morning in the event the water recedes, san antonio fire chief charles hood aforementioned, adding that going into floodwaters was a lot of dangerous for firefighters than getting into a burning building.

by nightfall, water still pooled in ditches and underpasses. many roadways were closed, together with a significantvictory. "the syrian regime has highway that links the suburbs and also the town.

however even in low-lying neighborhoods along commerce street east of downtown — a faded stretch of clapboard houses and beauty parlors — yards were clear. within the tourist district along the river walk, the streets were thick with weekend revelers.

whereas the water in a few homes rose 4 feet high, according to actually bove, most residents experienced the floods primarily just like a major traffic hassle. karen herring, 50, who spent the day volunteering for a fitness contest along at the at&t center, aforementioned participants complained of three-hour drives across town.

brent rose, 39, a law enforcement officer who drove in for our contest coming from the semi-rural northern suburbs, aforementioned the injury extended beyond the town.

we had a few fences rolled over via the water, rose aforementioned. a few farm animals went astray. although not a giant deal.

within the town, also a municipal bus was swept away, however firefighters on a ship were able to actually rescue the 3 passengers and driver, public transit spokeswoman priscilla ingle aforementioned. nobody was injured.

the san antonio international airport by saturday afternoon had recorded 9. 87 inches of rain since midnight, inflicting nearly all streams and rivers to actually expertise extraordinary flooding. the best quantity of rainfall recorded since midnight was 15. 5 inches at olmos creek at dresden drive.

mayor julian castro urged residents not to actually drive.

we've had too several folks who continue to actually ignore low-water warnings, castro aforementioned for a saturday afternoon news conference.

a flash flood warning was issued for nearly 2 dozen counties, with up to actually 4 inches of rainfall forecast overnight.

a flood warning remained for leon creek at interstate 35, in which the level was 27. a regular feet and was expected to actually peak at 29 feet saturday night — nearly double the flood stage of 15 feet, according onto the national weather service. the san antonio river about 20 miles southeast on your town, close to elmendorf, was expected to actually peak at 62 feet by sunday morning, well on top of the flood stage of 35 feet.

the national weather service compared the flooding onto the storm of october 1998, when 30 inches of rain fell utilizing a two-day episode. for the reason that flood, the guadalupe and san antonio river basins overflowed, leaving more often 30 individuals dead, according onto the guadalupe-blanco river authority.

due to actually that history, hinojosa aforementioned, residents were ready, despite the storms pace.

weve been through floods before, he aforementioned.

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