Hurricane Pamela: Woman and girl killed by flash flood in Texas
Vehicles were on way to elementary school when they were swept into creek
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A woman and a young girl were killed when flash floods in Texas caused by Hurricane Pamela swept their vehicles away, officials say.
Both victims were part of the same extended family and were in two vehicles on their way to an elementary school in the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas, when tragedy struck.
Authorities say that one of the cars was being driven by a man with two boys and a five-year-old girl as passengers, while a 52-year-old woman was driving two boys when they were swept into St Hedwig’s Martinez Creek in Bexar County.
The man and the four boys were all rescued by emergency services but the two victims could not be saved.
“There’s nothing more heartbreaking than to see the body of a five-year-old pulled out of a car,” said Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar.
“She was still wearing her backpack ... it just doesn’t get any worse than that.”
A dive team planned to return to the swollen creek on Friday to remove the woman’s body from the vehicle, which is now more than 10ft under water.
Officials have not released the names of the victims.
Hurricane Pamela made landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast on Wednesday, before moving into central Texas and Oklahoma on Thursday as a tropical storm that brought heavy rain.
Around 3.5-inches of rain fell in the San Antonio area, while more than double that hit Gonzales, Texas, according to AccuWeather.
Authorities say that a number of children had to be rescued from trees in Bexar County, after climbing into them to escape the flooding.
Weather experts say that this kind of weather system hitting Texas from a Pacific hurricane is very unusual and has only happened a handful of times in the past 75-years.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments