Emergency crews make hundreds of water rescues amid Texas flooding: "I thought I was going to die"
Emergency crews rescued families with children in heavily flooded Seagoville, Texas, on Monday, while heavy rains and flash flooding submerged houses, cars and trapped drivers in and around Dallas. A 60-year-old woman was killed when her vehicle was swept away in floodwaters in Dallas County, Texas, according to an official.
One woman was pulled to safety after the road she was driving on flooded with little warning.
"I thought I was going to die," the driver, Stephanie Carroll, said. "I was just panicking because I just wanted to get out of my car and get out of the water."
Dallas Fire-Rescue Department responded to nearly 200 vehicle rescues in just 24 hours.
Parts of the Southwest are under flood warnings after monsoon rains drenched communities across parts of six states, with northern Texas getting the worst of it.
Just a few weeks ago, triple-digit temperatures and drought conditions were baking North Texas and drying up the Trinity River in Dallas. But overnight, rain pounded the region and filled up the river basin.
The rain was so powerful that an apartment in downtown Dallas quickly ended up with two feet of water inside.
It also caused power outages at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport on Monday afternoon, leading to more than 250 flight cancellations.
In Utah's Zion National Park, torrential rains turned hiking paths treacherous, putting parkgoers at risk. One person was filmed clinging to a large tree trunk in fast-moving flood waters. The search continues for a 29-year-old woman from Tucson, Arizona, who was hiking with her friends when the storm hit.
"There are more than 20 people working on a search and rescue operation, and they're working all along the length of Zion Canyon," said Zion National Park spokesman Jonathan Shafer.