Deaths in San Antonio rise to 11 and some are still missing after heavy storms, officials say

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The number of deaths from drenching rains in San Antonio rose to 11 people on Friday and crews searched for others still missing a day after fast-rising floodwaters tossed and swept away more than a dozen cars into a creek.

Search teams combed low-water crossings a day after Thursday’s downpour that dumped more than 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain in a span of hours in parts of the nation’s seventh-largest city. Some people climbed up trees to escape rapidly rising waters and authorities said firefighters made more than 70 rescues across San Antonio.

Many of the rescues involved pulling people from stalled cars. At least 10 people were rescued from bushes and trees about a mile away from where their vehicles sunk, the San Antonio Fire Department said in a statement.

Rescue crews were still searching for missing people as the flooding subsided, San Antonio Fire Department spokesperson Joe Arrington said. It was unclear how many were missing Friday evening.

“Our hearts are with the families of those we’ve lost to this week’s flash floods and the families who continue searching for their loved ones,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said.

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Three of the 11 confirmed dead were between 28 to 55 years old, according to a news release from the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s office.

The search for the missing was focused on Beitel Creek where more than a dozen cars were found stuck or overturned, San Antonio officials said. Search dogs were also brought in Thursday to help find missing people, they said.

Among the missing was Stevie Richards, 42, the San Antonio Express-News reported. His wife, Angel, said she was on the phone with him when his car was swept away shortly before sunrise.

“As I was talking to him, he said, ‘Oh, the car’s floating’… It wasn’t even a whole minute later that I could hear it hitting up against something, him screaming and cussing, and I could hear the water take the phone. It happened really, really fast,” she told newspaper.

Those confirmed dead includes people found beyond the creek and throughout the county, said Monica Ramos, a spokesperson for the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s office.