By Aaron Martinez / El Paso Times
Posted:
09/18/2014 09:26:33 AM MDT
Click photo to enlarge
Central El Paso resident Erik Fernandez submitted this photo of... (Courtesy of Erik Fernandez)
A man rowed a boat in the flooded area of Eastwood Park (Album Park) Thursday morning. (Victor Calzada / El Paso Times)
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El Paso firefighters responded to more than 100 weather-related
incidents last night as the Sun City was pounded with heavy rainfall
throughout the night and into the early morning.
The El Paso Fire Department responded to 135 incidents between 8 p.m.
Wednesday and 6 a.m. this morning, said Carlos Briano, EPFD spokesman.
The incidents were mostly stalled cars on the road, small water rescues,
electric hazards and house flooding. The department received more than
360 calls reporting weather-related incidents. Most of the calls were
people reporting the same incidents, Briano said.
No serious injuries were reported.
Fire crews rescued two people at about 9 p.m. in a reservoir at
Fierro and Bywood Drives. The vehicle had three people inside and got
swept off the road due to strong water currents.
When firefighters arrived on the scene, they found two people, a 40
year-old woman and a 20-year-old man, standing on top of the vehicle,
EPFD officials said. The man sustained an ankle injury and was taken to a
local hospital.
Firefighters could not locate the third victim, another 40-year-old
woman, officials said. Five EPFD divers searched the reservoir for the
woman. The woman was eventually found at a nearby home. She told
firefighters that she exited the vehicle and swam out of the reservoir,
officials said. The woman did not suffer any injuries.
El
Paso Water Utilities crew members waited in ankle-deep water as they
worked to clear standing water on Album Street. (Victor Calzada / El
Paso Times)
Ten units and 35 firefighters responded to the incident, officials
said. The El Paso Police Department and U.S. Border Patrol assisted in
the rescue.
El Paso County can expect heavy rainfall to continue throughout
today, said Tim Brice, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
West El Paso, the Upper Valley and Santa Teresa are currently under a
flash flood warning, while the rest of El Paso County is under a flash
flood watch.
"The remnant low from the Hurricane (Odile) itself will come across
southern New Mexico," Brice said. "We got a good chance, almost
guaranteed, of more rain today (in southern New Mexico and El Paso
County). It's not going to take much to start causing problems in the
area. Everything kind of receded last night, but we have issued a flash
flood warning for West El Paso, the Upper Valley and Santa Teresa,
because we are getting about half an inch of rain an hour."
The flash flood watch is in effect until midnight tonight, while the
flash flood warning is in effect for at least the next three hours,
Brice said.
The heavy rainfall is expected to slow down in the next few days, Brice said.
"After today what is going to happen is the energy and the really
deep moisture will move off to the east with the remnant from the
Hurricane (Odile)," Brice said. "But we are still going to have plenty
of moisture, so we will go back to what we normally expect, which is
isolated afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Some of which could, of
course, rop a lot of rain, but we will be back more to normal."
Aaron Martinez may be reached at 546-6249.
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El Paso firefighters respond to more than 100 weather ...
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