Heavy Rain Leads To Flooding & High-Water Rescues
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NORTH TEXAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - A series of morning and afternoon rainstorms played havoc with Fort Worth drivers trying to commute to work and school.
Repeated cloud bursts, one after another, took many motorists by surprise. In no time flash floodwater threatened to swallow up whole vehicles, including one in the 2800 block of Hulen, just south of Interstate-30.
In all, the Fort Worth Fire Department answered nine high-water rescue calls on Monday. While not all motorists' misfortunes were so dramatic, they were just as vulnerable, as Rodrigo Chavez learned. He was on the Jacksboro Highway at 28th Street. When cars ahead of him came to a stop, so did he. Simply staying put cost him. "It [the water] just came up and cars stopped; but I didn't know it was that bad so I tried to make a turn but whenever I made the turn it just completely died in my car," he said, adding, "There was a lot of water and it [his car] died on me."
The floodwater's treachery was the speed with which it suddenly showed up... then disappeared. "As quick as it came; it just came and it left," Chavez told CBS 11 News.
Runoff quickly filled creeks and watersheds, relieving pressure on city streets so that when the cloudbursts moved on, so did flood waters. Most of them, but not all.
Isolated little watery pitfalls dragged on in some places -- like at the only proper right turn lane onto 28th street in northeast Fort Worth.
The water on 28th provided an unwelcome surprised for pickup driver Jerry Garcia. He said he saw other vehicles splash through and thought he could make it. He couldn't. "I know better than to cross the water right there," he said. Then he added sheepishly, "But I did anyway."
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