Flooding

Flash flooding leads to high water rescue, crashes in Dallas

The storms on Wednesday morning brought torrential rain and a dangerous situation for drivers

NBC Universal, Inc.

Relentless rain over the last two weeks has caused yet another round of flash flooding in North Texas.

Earlier Wednesday morning, numerous roads were blocked around the metroplex, leading to some high-water incidents that kept fire rescue crews busy.       

It started on Tuesday night, when the Denton Fire Department responded to a call about two bicyclists who were stranded on the Greenbelt around 8:30 p.m. Darkness and high water made it difficult, but the two were rescued without injury.

Once the storms became widespread about 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, more high-water calls started coming in across DFW.

Around 5:30 a.m., a 911 caller said they could hear a man yelling for help around Skillman and Walnut Hill roads in Dallas. The man had apparently fallen down a steep embankment during the worst of this morning's rain, according to Dallas Fire Rescue.

Crews found him about 50 or 60 feet down along the Jackson branch of White Rock Creek.

Dallas Fire Rescue

After locating the man, first responders were able to make their way to his location, load him onto a backboard and bring him to safety. The man sustained lower-body injuries and was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

Crews don't know what he was doing out in the rain or how he fell.

Many areas along White Rock Creek are flooded and have made roads impassable.

Lawther Drive between Northwest Highway and GoForth Road was still covered in high water as of 9 a.m. Wednesday morning. A black SUV was seen submerged and appeared to have been swept off the road in rushing water.

Dallas Fire said it was a high water incident and that no one was transported or needed to be rescued.

"Most of the high water incidents we respond to whenever the rains come in are typically people that have driven in the high waters and vehicles have stalled out. They've become disabled and they simply need us there to help escort them to safety, mostly by foot, sometimes by boat. Nothing that results in injuries, thankfully," said Jason Evans with Dallas Fire Rescue.

City crews have closed the road off, along with many others along the creek, as far North as Merriman Parkway off Abrams Road.

"There's always an alternate way to get somewhere. If you see water, especially waters where you can't actually see the street -- the message just to turn around. It doesn't take very high water to disable your vehicle, especially if you're going at a high rate of speed," said Evans.

Dallas Fire Rescue responded to a total of 50 accidents this morning.

One of those crashes sent the driver of a semi-truck to the hospital.

Dallas County Sheriff's deputies were called to a major accident involving three vehicles at Highway 75 southbound and Live Oak near downtown Dallas. Crews found the semi hanging off the side of a bridge.

Parts of the truck fell to the ground. The crash is under investigation and the condition of the driver is unknown at this time.

"Even more dangerous than the high water causing your vehicle stall out is the high water that causes your vehicle to hydroplane, especially on the freeways," warned Evans. "It doesn't take but an inch or less of water -- depending on the speed you're going at -- to cause your vehicle to lose control."

Contact Us