Raging Rains/floods strand people on roofs, in trees in Texas
Pastor Dale Morgan
Raging Rains/floods strand people on roofs, in trees in Texas*
POSTED: 1821 GMT (0221 HKT), June 27, 2007
Story Highlights
• 18+ inches of rain fall near Austin, EMS official says
• Heavy rain stops some helicopter rescue attempts
• Oklahoma City beats 70-year record for rainy days
• 13-year-old dies in floodwaters Tuesday night in Dallas suburb
GEORGETOWN, Texas (AP) -- Torrential storms flooded parts of central
Texas early Wednesday, stranding people on roofs, in trees and in
vehicles, with wind-blown rain falling so hard that some helicopter
rescue attempts had to be abandoned.
The worst flooding was in Williamson, Lampasas and Burnet counties in
the Texas Hill Country northwest of Austin.
"We got hard facts of 18-plus inches of rain in a couple of those places
since midnight," Austin-Travis County emergency medical services
spokesman Warren Hassinger said just after 7 a.m.
More rain was expected throughout the day, the National Weather Service
said.
Parts of Oklahoma also were soaked Wednesday, with rain falling on
Oklahoma City for the 15th consecutive day, breaking a 70-year-old
record. (Watch floodwaters swamp Oklahoma roads, fields Video)
Hassinger's agency had reports early Wednesday of at least 20 trapped
atop vehicles, on roofs or clinging to trees surrounded by fast-moving
water.
However, the weather was so stormy that helicopter crews had to abandon
several rescue attempts, Hassinger said. He said four rescue attempts
were halted before dawn and he didn't know what happened to the people
needing help.
One aborted rescue mission had attempted to get four people from the
roof of a house in Granite Shoals, where water was about 4 feet from the
top of the building. They had pulled a possible drowning victim from the
water, Hassinger said.
One successful helicopter-assisted rescue plucked a Williamson County
sheriff's deputy and another person from atop the lawman's car along the
San Gabriel River near Georgetown, Hassinger said. (Watch water pour
down streets of Fort Worth Video)
Ray Thomas and his wife fled their house on a peninsula between the
North and South San Gabriel rivers at about 4:45 a.m., after hearing an
emergency weather radio bulletin.
"We're lucky we got out," he said. "In September we were praying for
rain. What worries me now is the rain that's still to come."
Tuesday night, residents of at least 50 homes had to be evacuated from a
flooded subdivision near Lake Granbury, about 60 miles southwest of
Dallas. Rescuers used boats and jet skis to remove those residents as
Robinson Creek rose out of its banks.
Speed of water's rise 'hard to believe'
About 30 evacuees spent Wednesday morning at the First United Methodist
Church in Granbury, the Rev. Neil Norman said.
"There's some shock because the water must have come up extremely
quickly," Norman said. "This is all pretty much hard to believe."
In Oklahoma, about 20 firefighters had to use a raft to rescue
16-year-old twin sisters from their car, stalled in rushing bumper-deep
water Tuesday. (Watch terrified teens rescued from car Video)
The Oklahoma City area received about an inch of rain in 24 hours,
bringing the city's annual total to 28.03 inches -- about 10 inches
above normal. Flooding closed some roads Wednesday in central and
northeastern Oklahoma.
"Anytime it rains there's going to be the threat of heavy downpours,
it's not out of the question for any one area to get three inches,"
National Weather Service meteorologist Ty Judd said Wednesday in Norman,
Oklahoma.
Boy dies after creek sweeps him away
A 13-year-old boy died in the Dallas suburb of Garland Tuesday night
after being washed down a flooded creek, police spokesman Joe Harn said.
The boy was swept away when firefighters using ropes tried to pull him
ashore from a bridge pillar where he was stranded. He was found a mile
downstream about two hours later, Harn said.
A number of flood warnings were posted throughout Texas. North Bosque
River near Clifton was expected to crest at almost 29 feet early
Wednesday, which is about 6 feet above normal.
Elsewhere, several Chicago streets and basements were flooded as parts
of the city received 3 to 4 inches of rain in about 45 minutes, just
before Tuesday's evening rush hour, according to the National Weather
Service.
The water department received more than 700 reports of flooded
basements, officials said.