A woman died after her car was swept off a bridge on Scyene Road in Mesquite during flash floods from high quantities of rain that hit the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex earlier this week.
Joleen Jarrell, 60, of Dallas, was identified by the Dallas County medical examiner as having been killed by a flash flood on August 21 or 22. More than 15 inches of rain had poured down in North Texas within 24 hours.
After high waters receded from the bridge, firefighters were able to retrieve the woman’s body on Monday afternoon.
As the water began to rise, Jarrell told her husband in their last phone call that the water had risen to her ankles, then to her knees, and it felt as if someone were pushing her car, according to reports.
The phone hung up abruptly, and soon after, Jarrell’s family began searching for her. They were unable to find her car until the water decreased.
After the high waters subsided, her car tires became visible, and her husband was able to spot her vehicle. He instantly knew that it was his wife’s car, friends said to CBS 11 reporters.
Downstream from Jarrell’s car were a few others that had also been swept off the road by the sudden rising waters. A witness on the scene spoke to CBS 11, describing the situation.
“You had to swim because the water was up past my chest,” the witness told CBS 11. “And my car… the water had my car, and it just floated on in the ditch.”