SAN ANTONIO- It's been a while since we've seen this much rain at one time. For some drivers, it's been a challenge driving around in it...especially when it comes to high water crossings.
It's dried out now, but at Los Patios near Loop 410 and Starcrest has long been a place where it's flooded easily, but that is no more. However, Salado Creek is running very swift and is running across several roads across the city.
When it comes to high water on the roadways, some drivers need to remember the dangers and expense of testing the waters.The rain on this day just piled up faster than some people realized . And that is always a recipe for problems. On the northeast side, ground already saturated was rolling the rain off into creeks and ditches that haven't seen this much rain at one time in months and were quickly swollen. At Stahl road and Bel, water was rolling through leaving most drivers finding a different route.
Charles Stewart was one of those drivers. "Because you're not going to make it. You see something like that, you may as well just turn around and go home."
But that's not what happened less than a mile away along Classen road. You can see barriers clearly up here, but drivers in a truck and later in a van decided they would take the chance and make the crossing. We also saw another car. The people here we obviously having a hard time deciding whether to try it or not...so the driver sent out a closer set of eyes. He still couldn't tel so he picks up a rock and throws it in the water to check out the depth... they eventually turned around.
Then we caught up to a driver who lost his truck in the flood waters. He had to leave it in the middle of this creek at Perrin Beitel and Vicar street. He told us that when he turned on to the side street, the barrier was only on one side of the road and when he tried to stop, he couldn't.
The driver, Lorenzo Gutierrez explained it this way. " I just kep sliding in, so I tried to put it in reverse, but it wouldn't stay on, I ran out of gas I think. It wouldn't stay on to back up, but the water just kept pulling me in."
He was able to get out okay, despite water swallowing his truck, but he did get a ticket for going around a high water barrier. Now in case you're new to the area or just forgot, the fine for going around a flood barrier is up to $200. If you have to be rescued by the fire department, that is a $600 fine and if you're caught moving or tampering with a barrier you can be fined up to $1000 dollars and possibly up to 2 years in prison. If you'd like a listing of
road closures across the city, you can also find it by clicking the get it button
