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Recovery efforts resumed for woman swept off road in recent Bexar County flooding; 5-year-old dies

An RV park in New Braunfels sustains flood damage a debris from the Guadalupe River.
Steve Short
/
Texas Public Radio
An RV park in New Braunfels sustains flood damage a debris from the Guadalupe River.

Story updated Friday, Oct. 15 at 11 a.m.

The Bexar County Sheriff's Department reports recovery efforts resumed Friday morning for a woman inside a submerged vehicle in an East Bexar County Creek.

The vehicle was one of two with extended family members inside that were washed off a flooded low water crossing, south of Schertz, on Thursday morning.

The incident happened near North Graytown Road and FM 1518 before 7 a.m. Thursday morning. It was one of dozens of high water rescues needed across the area after heavy rains and flooding from the remnants of Pamela.

The sheriff's department reports fire personnel were able to recover the body of a 5-year-old girl from one of the vehicles.

But Emergency Services District Number 10 Chief Robert Hogan said conditions remained too dangerous on Thursday to reach the 52-year-old woman.

"The woman is still in the vehicle right now. She's in about 16 feet of water... and the current is moving extremely rapidly, so therefore that's the reason we're not going to do anything this (Thursday) evening. We will pick up tomorrow (Friday) morning in doing that," Hogan said.

Fire personnel did rescue two children who had been in the woman's vehicle. They also rescued two children and a man in the other vehicle, but the 5-year-old also riding with him did not survive. Investigators believe all were headed to school before sun-up at the time of the accident.

Storms throughout Wednesday night and Thursday morning have left parts of Bexar County, New Braunfels and other areas near the Guadalupe River flooded.

Flood warnings were issued for Salado Creek at Loop 13, Medina River at Highway 281, San Antonio River near Elmendorf and Leon Creek at I-35. Most of these warnings are expected to end Thursday evening or Friday morning.

The National Weather Service reports the heaviest rains fell just east of a line from Bulverde to Canyon Lake to Wimberly line.

More than 5 inches of rain fell at Canyon Lake and 7 inches was recorded in Wimberly. Most of Bexar County received 2 to 3 inches of rain according to rainfall measured during a 24 hour period ending at 7 a.m. Thursday.

Two people were rescued after an SUV was swept off Blanco Road near Bulverde according to NWS officials. A pickup truck was washed away on Southwell Road in Helotes. In New Braunfels, a couple of trailers were washed away from an RV park that sits beneath I-35.

Guadalupe County authorities reported a number of highwater rescues along Santa Clara Creek near Marion.

No fatalities have been reported.

Forecasters expect the area to be dry the rest of the day with a cold front coming in Friday. That might introduce a few isolated storms in southern Bexar County. Some morning temperatures could drop to the 40s or 50s this weekend. Highs remain in the 70s and 80s.

Temperatures will eventually warm leading into next week.

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