Teen mom, 2-year-old ID’d as drowning victims after flooding in Fort Worth
An 18-year-old Fort Worth woman and her young daughter died Saturday when their vehicle was swept off an access road by floodwaters, a fire official said.
In a separate accident, the body of an elderly man was found Saturday afternoon in a submerged vehicle.
The woman and her daughter were identified as 18-year-old Jessica Romero and her 2-year-old daughter, Llaylanni, according to WFAA-TV.
The two drowned Saturday morning when their car, which was on a Loop 820 access road, was swept away by high water down a culvert, a fire official said. A GoFundMe account has been established to help the family with funeral costs.
The drowning occurred about 10 a.m. on an access road of East Loop 820, near Wilbarger Street.
An elderly man also was found dead Saturday afternoon in a submerged vehicle near South Cravens Road in Fort Worth. This was about a mile from the first drowning incident.
He was later identified as 69-year-old Eddy Volpp of Arlington, according to a FOX4 report.
A witness called firefighters about 11 a.m. Saturday and reported a car had been washed away by high water, but firefighters could not find it because it was underwater.
Once the water receded, firefighters were called back to the scene and located the vehicle. Volpp’s body was recovered by a dive team, authorities said. His name had not been released as of Sunday.
Storms dropped heavy rains Saturday, causing flooding conditions throughout North Texas. By Saturday evening, Dallas Love Field had reported almost 5 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Weather Service office in Fort Worth. The total ran from Tuesday until Saturday evening.
MedStar reported 33 injury vehicle crashes including five rollovers from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Fort Worth area
The Fort Worth Fire Department reported more than 20 high water rescues and stranded motorist calls on Saturday.
Arlington police reported 12 high water rescues and eight calls of minor flooding in homes, mostly in the 2200 block of Park Springs. No injuries were reported.
Rainfall totals from Tuesday until Saturday evening included 3.85 at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport, 3.48 inches at the Arlington Municipal Airport and 2.29 at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.
Showers are expected to remain south of Fort Worth on Sunday, according to the weather service.
“We still have some low chances of rain on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday,” said weather service meteorologist Jamie Gudmestad. “But those rains will not be anything like we have had these past few days.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2018 at 9:35 AM with the headline "Teen mom, 2-year-old ID’d as drowning victims after flooding in Fort Worth."