Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — Storms packing heavy rain and tornadoes swept through central Texas on Thursday and were blamed for the deaths of at least three people who were swept away by floodwaters.
About 15,000 homes lost power in Austin, rains flooded businesses in a downtown area and cars were left strewn about as the water receded. Portions of Interstate 35 near Buda were backed up after an 18-wheeler overturned. Localized street flooding also was reported in San Antonio.
An Austin man died when his vehicle stalled at a flooded crossing and he attempted to get out, said Kenneth Neafcy, spokesman for the city’s Office of Emergency Management.
The body of a 32-year-old pregnant Amarillo woman was found more than four hours after the car she was riding in was swept off a state highway near Rocksprings, about 90 miles northwest of San Antonio, Sheriff Don Letsinger said. The woman’s father was rescued.
A pickup truck with two men was later washed off the road at the same spot, just south of Rocksprings, Letsinger said.
"We fished them out of the trees. They’re OK," he said.
In Blanco, about 40 miles north of San Antonio, a 64-year-old man drowned after he tried to cross a flooded low-water crossing on a county road in his pickup truck. Two others in the truck were rescued by residents, the county sheriff’s department said.
In Real County, a group of people were stranded by high water from a river and a creek, Letsinger said.
"Those people could be in danger," Letsinger said. "We don’t have any way to get to them by land. We’re in contact with those people and will have to take them food and water."
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