Watch: Man rescued from roof of car stuck in flooded canal during Texas floods
The driver was able to climb out of the car's sun roof. He stood on top of the car's roof until the fire department arrived with a ladder.
Watch: Man trapped on car in rushing canal rescued
Listen to the rushing water as the fire department lowers a ladder down to a man who lost control of his vehicle and ended up in a flood-swollen canal, trapped. The wrecker crew still couldn't retrieve the car a day later because of the fast current.
SPRING, Texas – Wednesday turned disastrous for one driver northwest of Houston who lost control and ended up trapped on top of his car in a rushing canal.
"This is what happens when it rains and you hydroplane," Mellissa Clark of A.S.K. Towing and Recovery posted on social media. "Please stay off the roads… but if you have to drive, go slow!"
After sliding off the road into a cement-sided drainage canal, the car came to rest on the bottom with the windows just above the water. The driver, who was alone, was able to climb out of the sunroof and waited for first responders on the roof of his car.
WHY CRUISE CONTROL IS BAD DURING HEAVY RAINFALL
This image from Google Maps shows the sheer-sided canal going under the roadway in good conditions. Notice how narrow the canal is.
(Google Maps / FOX Weather)
He had to wait for 35-40 minutes in the rain for the fire department.
"He was able to keep composure," eyewitness Thomas Clark of A.S.K. Towing said. "He was a captain of a fire department."
Firefighters lowered a ladder down to the roof of the car from the bridge. They had the fire captain put on a harness, then the man climbed up the ladder to the bridge himself.
Thomas Clark said the man was not injured.
7 FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT FLASH FLOODS
The man patiently waited at least 35–40 minutes on the roof of his car for rescuers to arrive.
(A.S.K. Towing and Recovery)
Despite being dispatched to the accident to retrieve the car in the canal, the Clarks and their wrecker departed sans car. A day later, the vehicle is still there.
"The car is still inside the retention area," Thomas Clark said. "It's too deep and the current's too big to get the vehicle out right now."
The car may be there for a while as several more days of flooding are possible as runoff from the days of heavy rain keeps bayous, rivers and channels full.
SOUTH'S WET WEATHER PATTERN EXPECTED TO RELOAD FOR FRIDAY AND FIRST HALF OF WEEKEND
Flood alerts in effect through Friday, Jan. 26, 2024.
(FOX Weather)
This was just one of the many crashes and high water rescues that fire departments rushed to around the Houston metro area Wednesday. Spring, Texas, a suburb just north of Houston, recorded 7.49 inches of rain over 3 days. Katy, a western suburb of Houston, received 8.71 inches of rain during the period, while Houston proper recorded nearly 7 inches over three days, according to the NWS.