San Antonio Floods: 1 Killed, More Than 100 Rescued (News Update!)

 
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San Antonio Floods: 1 Killed, More Than 100 Rescued (News Update!)

Posted by Nicholas Stix

 

1 killed, more than 100 rescued in San Antonio floods

The San Antonio Fire Department says a 29-year-old woman was trapped in her car, got on the roof and was swept away in floodwaters. Her body was later found against a fence. (May 25)

By Katharine Lackey

May 25, 2013, 4:59 p.m. EDT

USA TODAY

 

By Saturday afternoon, the San Antonio International Airport had recorded nearly 10 inches of rain since midnight.

 

A flood gage [sic] shows waters just under 10 feet at an intersection Saturday in San Antonio.(Photo: Eric Gay, AP)

Story Highlights

• 130 people have been rescued from their homes and cars in the San Antonio area
• Nearly all streams and rivers in the area are flooded as a result of heavy rains
• Flood levels on the San Antonio River reached a new record of 34.2 feet at Loop 410

One person has been killed, another is missing and about 130 have been rescued in the San Antonio area after the region was inundated with nearly 10 inches of rain Saturday.

San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Christian Bove told the Associated Press that a 29-year-old woman was trapped in her car, got on the roof and was swept away in floodwaters. Her body was later found against a fence. Rescue workers are searching for a second person who's missing after being trapped in another car.

Bove says about 130 people have been rescued from their homes and cars in the San Antonio area, where water is up to 4 feet high in some homes. In one neighborhood, first responders used inflatable boats to remove 54 people alone, Bexar County spokeswoman Laura Jesse.

By Saturday afternoon, the San Antonio International Airport had recorded nearly 10 inches of rain since midnight. The highest amount reported in that same time frame was 15.5 inches at Olmos Creek at Dresden Drive. Nearly all streams and rivers in the area are flooded as a result of the heavy rains.

Saturday marks the second-wettest day ever recorded in San Antonio, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The wettest day on record is Oct. 17, 1998, when 11.62 inches of rain fell. That record is likely to stand as the heavy rains have moved east of the city. (Because the gauge at Olmos Creek is not an official weather station, the National Weather Service does not consider it to be a record.)

Flood levels on the San Antonio River at Loop 410 reached a new record of 34.2 feet, beating a previous record of 32.57 feet set on Oct. 17, 1998, CNN reported.

Despite a break in the rain, Mayor Julian Castro urged motorists to stay off roads.

"Many roads throughout the city continue to be impassable and dangerous," he said in a statement. "Just because it's not raining at the moment, does not mean that the threat has passed."

It is not known how much the rainfall will impact drought in the region because much of it will run off into creeks and rivers, NWS meteorologist Pat McDonald told the Express-News.

"Hopefully, it will help, but it will take us a week or two weeks for all the data to come in," he said. "It depends on how much soaks into the aquifer."

Contributing: The Associated Press

A man surveys floodwaters caused by heavy rains Saturday in San Antonio.(Photo: Eric Gay, AP)