Death toll rises to 11 in San Antonio flooding
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Aishvarya Kavi and Amy Graff
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The death toll from flash flooding that overwhelmed the San Antonio region rose to 11 after six more bodies were recovered following heavy rain that inundated the area, the authorities said on June 13.
Several people remained missing around two creeks in the city, the city’s Fire Department said.
The authorities said that canine units and a Texas-based Federal Emergency Management Agency task force that specialises in urban search and rescue were helping in the searches.
The teams were “conducting detailed ground searches across creek beds, low-water crossings and debris fields”, the city said.
Five people were reported killed on June 12, but more bodies were recovered as search efforts continued.
At least three of the 11 dead, two men and a woman, were publicly identified as at the afternoon of June 13, according to the medical examiner for Bexar County.
The San Antonio Police Department was investigating the deaths and identifying next of kin, the city said.
The Fire Department said it had responded to more than 80 water rescues and investigations since the flooding began on June 12.
Almost 20 roads had been closed, the city’s Public Works Department reported, and more than a dozen low-water road crossings showed signs of structural damage.
City officials said that flooding remained “a serious concern” along two rivers in the south of San Antonio through the weekend.
The National Weather Service in San Antonio said on June 13 that dry weather was expected overnight into June 14, with a small chance of isolated thunderstorms.
Much of Texas was hit with rains on June 12, and severe thunderstorms brought repeated heavy rain to locations across south-central and southern Texas.
“The thunderstorms moved over the same location over and over again,” said meteorologist Mack Morris from the National Weather Service.
Streets were flooded in the greater San Antonio area, with the heaviest rain falling from midnight on June 11 until about 6am on June 12.
Mr Morris said that the Interstate 35 corridor that stretches along Dallas, Austin and San Antonio is especially prone to flooding, as the region is covered in a thin layer of soil that sits atop bedrock.
“Think of it as a sponge,” he added. “The sponge is thinner here because the soil is so shallow. It can only hold so much water.”
Areas across the north side of San Antonio recorded 10 to 20cm of rain on June 12, he said.
The gauge at the San Antonio International Airport measured 15.5cm, which made it the second-highest one-day rainfall total for June at that site and the 10th wettest day ever, according to weather service records.
San Antonio usually records less than 15.2cm of rainfall in June and July combined.
“One of my colleagues has been here since the mid-’90s, and he called this a top-10 event,” Mr Morris said.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg of San Antonio expressed condolences for the victims of the flooding on June 13.
“Our hearts are with the families of those we’ve lost to this week’s flash floods and the families who continue searching for their loved ones,” Mr Nirenberg said. NYTIMES
