Man killed when SUV swept away by flood waters
Feb. 10—An elderly man was found dead Thursday after his SUV apparently was swept away by fast-moving flood waters Wednesday near FM 1565 and the north I-30 service road, according to the Royse City Police Department.
Police were withholding the man's identity Thursday afternoon pending a positive identification.
On Wednesday about 11 a.m., the Royse City Police Department along with the Royse City Fire Department, the Union Valley Fire Department and the Cash Fire Department responded to reports of multiple vehicles stuck in high water on the service roads of Interstate 30 near FM 1565 in Hunt County.
Two witnesses told authorities that they observed a silver-colored SUV being washed off the roadway on the north service road and sink into a section of Brushy Creek that travels under Interstate 30, according to Royse City Police Chief Kirk Aldridge. No driver was seen exiting the vehicle.
The Hunt County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS and a Texas game warden responded to the area to assist with the search, but the vehicle and the driver could not be located.
At the time of the incident, the area was extremely flooded and the water was dangerously swift. After searching the areas that could be accessed, the search was suspended until water levels went down.
A few hours after the incident, the Caddo Mills Police Department received a report of an overdue motorist. The motorist was reported to be driving a silver colored 2008 Toyota Highlander SUV.
Royse City police continued to monitor the flooded area along I-30 throughout the day and night. On Thursday morning, water levels had dropped in the area and the search for the missing motorist continued. During the search, a swift water rescue team from the Cash Fire Department located what was believed to be a sunken vehicle in the creek on the south side of Interstate 30. The vehicle was about 15 to 20 feet underwater. A dive team from the Wylie Fire Department assisted with removing the vehicle from the water. The vehicle was unoccupied when it was recovered.
It was determined that the vehicle, a silver-colored Toyota Highlander SUV, did belong to the overdue motorist, according to Aldridge. A search of the area continued and a deceased elderly male was located farther down beside the creek bank.
The fatality investigation is ongoing and being handled by the Royse City Police Department.
First-responders on Wednesday were fielding numerous calls for assisting stranded motorists as creeks and ditches swelled with water from about 3 inches of rain that fell locally.
This past week's heavy rains filled area creeks, ditches and rivers. The rain-swollen Sabine River helped fill Lake Tawakoni to its highest level in almost two years.
The level could get even higher, given as how the Cowleech and South Forks of the Sabine remained in flood stage Thursday afternoon, with good chances for additional precipitation coming next week.
As of 12:15 p.m. Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) reported the level on Tawakoni had climbed to 439.05 feet, well past the fill stage of 437.5 feet, a mark it was approaching before three inches fell locally during the day Wednesday.
It was the highest the water level had risen on the reservoir since April 2021. The lowest level recorded on Tawakoni since it was filled was 424.9 feet, on Dec. 29, 2006.
Another cycle of showers and thunderstorms is forecast for Hunt County between Monday morning and Tuesday night.
