Deputy feared lost in Texas flooding

AUSTIN, Texas — Rescue crews were searching Thursday for a Texas sheriff’s deputy who radioed for help minutes before her empty patrol car was found submerged in floodwaters.

Roger Wade, a spokesman for the Travis County sheriff’s office, said the deputy was checking low-water crossings during storms. She radioed shortly before 2 a.m. CDT Thursday, saying her vehicle was being washed away in an Austin-area subdivision.

“We believe she was swept into the low-water crossing by water going down the street,” said Wade, who identified the deputy only as a seven-year veteran of the department.

Austin-Travis County EMS was contending with three other swift-water rescues in the region, Cmdr. Mike Benavides said. No injuries were reported in those rescues.

The Austin area received 5 to 7 inches of rain early Thursday, said Cory Van Pelt, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in New Braunfels.

Rainfall from remnants of Hurricane Odile pelted parts of the U.S. Southwest, including in Texas from El Paso to Houston.

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