Woman Says Her Husband Called Her Before Being Swept Away by Flash Flood
NEED TO KNOW
- A woman says that her husband called right before he was swept away in flash floods that hit San Antonio on June 12
- Angel Richards recalls her husband, Stevie, not wanting to go into work amid the heavy rain
- “The call I got, he was going into some water and that was it,” she says of their last conversation, before later seeing their car among the wreckage of the storm
A Texas woman says that her husband called her just before he was swept away in flash floods that hit San Antonio.
Angel Richards now believes her husband, Stevie, is among those dead or missing following the storm that hit the area after their phone conversation was cut short on Thursday, June 12, according to ABC affiliate KSAT, CBS affiliate KENS and NBC News.
“The call I got, he was going into some water. And that was it,” Richards recalled, KSAT reported. She added, “I just don’t want to believe it. This is not something that happens.”
She said that during their conversation, her husband of 15 years was hesitant about going to work amid the heavy rain. She also mentioned hearing sounds of “rushing water” before the call was cut short.
“I could hear whatever the car hit and then the water taking over the car,” she said, per NBC News. “And that’s the last I heard.”
Lekan Oyekanmi/AP
Sadly, Richards’ husband became one of several people on the road who were caught up in the surging waters, with their vehicle — a Cadillac — found upside down near Briar Glen Trailhead off Perrin Beitel, KSAT reported.
“As the water was receding, I could see that that was my car,” she said, per the outlet.
“It’s hard because I was on the phone when this happened, and then not to have a lot of communication, to see my car, it’s devastating to me,” Richards told KENS.
According to multiple reports, at least five people have died and two are missing as of Friday morning.
As PEOPLE previously reported, floodwaters swept away multiple vehicles, with heavy rain resulting in the multiple deaths, which all occurred in the northeast part of the city on Thursday, the Associated Press reported, citing authorities.
According to KSAT, the San Antonio Police Department and San Antonio Fire Department started receiving calls in the early hours of the morning at around 4:15 a.m. local time from people who had been stranded on Loop 410 near Perrin Beitel Road.
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Fifteen vehicles were swept away, with the fire department confirming that two men and three women had died, the outlet reported. ABC News reported that two others remained unaccounted for.
According to KSAT, five to eight inches of rain fell overnight on June 11, on the north side of the city in a short period of time.
On Thursday, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued flood warnings on X and the fire department warned the public on Facebook that “many areas” were still “closed due to water on the road,” stating that more storms were expected in the area and that a flash flood warning was in place.