Reports say that the driver escaped but that authorities were unprepared to do much to help stranded motorists
May 3, 2024 at 19:33
- An 18-wheeler ended up almost completely submerged in a southeast Texas flash flood.
- Reports say that the driver made it out safely.
- At the same time, those stranded on land by the flood were evidently left without aid.
Multiple counties in southeast Texas have received several inches of rain in the last 24 hours. In one of those areas, an 18-wheeler driver accidentally entered a very deep flash flood. His truck jackknifed, and as it sank he climbed out onto the hood. A bystander also trapped by the flood caught the incident on camera and detailed the situation.
The entire ordeal happened in Shepherd, Texas on Thursday where the driver in question appears to have left the roadway unintentionally. The video begins as the truck is already up to its hood in water. It’s unclear if the semi was trying to avoid hitting a truck just ahead of it or if the driver simply didn’t realize how deep the water was on that side of the roadway.
More: Wealthy Influencer Fesses Up To Crashing $1.3M McLaren Senna
A Toyota pickup truck and two other semi-trucks manage to pass the stranded truck without any drama as it begins to sink. The cab turns hard left as it gets deeper and deeper and the driver climbs out of the window. As it turns out of the view of the camera it’s unclear what the driver does to stay safe. Despite that, an update video reports that he made it out unscathed.
“A rescue boat arrived and rook the truck driver to safety,” says a bystander on the scene who goes by the name Athina. She also says that “hundreds of people”, including herself, were stranded between two different flood zones that were full of water. “When we called the sheriff’s department they told us they had no plans to help those stranded and that we should drive through the flooding if we wanted to get out,” she says.
Evidently, she’d been waiting for five hours at the time that she posted that update. They’re also far from the only ones affected by the flooding. As of this writing, a dozen different schools are closed tomorrow due to the flooding in the area. Additional flash flood warnings and watches are in effect as well.