Puppy and Driver Rescued from Flood Waters in Teague
Wednesday's heavy rains caused flooding across Central Texas, which kept our local first responders quite busy. They know that despite attempts to educate the public about the dangers of trying to cross flooded roadways, there will always be people who think they can make it.
That was the case in Teague last night, where a man drove past TxDOT vehicles blocking a flooded road under a bridge. The man's sedan became stranded in the high, swift-moving water.
Firefighters from Teague, Fairfield, and Butler were called to the scene around 10:30 PM and spotted the man standing atop his vehicle with a puppy.
Fortunately, the Freestone County Commissioners recently bought a rescue boat for use by all the county's fire departments, and crews were able to get to the man and save him and the pooch.
"This was the first water rescue with the new boat the Freestone County Commissioners purchased for the fire departments of Freestone County," said a representative of the Teague Volunteer Fire Department. "We are very thankful for this because without the boat, a successful rescue most likely would not have been possible."
Crews didn't have time to rest after that rescue, either. They were immediately called to to the scene of a vehicle having become submerged on I-45. In that case, the occupants of the vehicle were able to swim to safety.
It's incredibly fortunately that there were no drownings in both of these cases. A vehicle can easily be swept away in less than an inch of water covering a roadway, and it's never worth risking it. If you see water covering the road or any signs or vehicles warning you to stay away, please don't try to be the exception. There's a reason they say TURN AROUND, DON'T DROWN.