At least three people have died and another is missing in heavy floods as freezing rain and flooding pummeled the USA state of Texas.
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The rain was not expected to taper off for some time, forecasters warned.
Johnson County authorities reported several other high water rescues in the area on Friday morning as well.
A Tarrant County sheriff’s deputy was rescued after holding on to a tree limb for more than two hours.
A Tarrant County, Texas, sheriff’s deputy who clung to a tree for two hours was rescued early Friday after being overwhelmed by floodwaters while attempting to save a motorist who was stranded in her auto.
Firefighters in Garland, a Dallas suburb, found the body of a 29-year-old man inside a submerged Hyundai Elantra after the vehicle was swept from a bridge.
“It is hard for the guys to navigate in the dark and in water like this”, said Lt. Kyle Falkner of the Fort Worth Fire Department.
Extra troopers have been mobilized to patrol the glazed highways, including heavily traveled Interstate 40 where three people died Thursday when their van skidded across a median and under the trailer of a tractor-trailer. Jones said the body was recovered Friday morning near Mansfield, about 18 miles southeast of Fort Worth, but released no other details.
Garland fire spokesman Merrill Balanciere says that a search and rescue team was called to the scene about 8:30 a.m., but had to wait for the water to recede before checking the vehicle.??The driver’s name hasn’t been released. “It took the vehicle and her and the deputy and the occupant of the auto into the creek and downstream”.
The agency has issued a flood watch for the region extending from the Dallas area into Oklahoma and Louisiana, and up through parts of southern IL.
Johnson County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tim Jones says emergency services received a 911 call early Friday for a high water rescue at the Rock Creek bridge, west of Fort Worth.
The rain was steady overnight in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and pushed 2015 to the No. 1 spot as the wettest year on record. Salazar and the motorist were both swept away when the deputy tried to wade over.
With 4.55 inches of rain falling Thursday through 7 a.m. Friday, it has rained 55.23 inches this year at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, eclipsing the previous record of 53.54 set in 1991.
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The National Weather Service issued ice storm warnings in the Texas Panhandle and central Oklahoma that will remain in effect through noon Saturday, with up to a quarter or half-inch of ice expected to accumulate.
