AUSTIN (KXAN) — As storms moved through Central Texas, parts of the area were hit with flash flooding. One Austin man spoke with KXAN’s Nabil Remadna about his experience getting stuck in the water near Duval Road and U.S. Highway 183 in north Austin.
“It just happened all of a sudden,” the man said. “I was coming down the exit ramp, and I had seen the car in front of me and they kept going. And basically, as I went along, it just got deeper and deeper, and there was no backing out of it.”
He said his car eventually stalled out and it began floating away.
“I’ve lived in this area for 10 years, and I’ve lived in Austin for 21. I’ve never seen this. I always thought it never would happen here—couldn’t happen to us. We see it on the TV, and I know it sounds crazy, but it does.”
He said he and everyone else who got stalled were OK, but that the situation was scary.
“Physically, I think we’re all OK. Everybody that got stalled—we’re OK. I just don’t know about long-term because it was weirdly enough scary. It was really freaking scary. Whenever that came, that water came up to here,” he said motioning to his chest. “And you were just like trying to crawl out the window. It was really crazy.”
He said the only way out of the vehicle was through the window, but it was difficult with other cars driving through the water.
“The only way to get out was through the window, but the bigger vehicles, they weren’t paying attention to the fact that we were trying to open the windows and get our belongings and things out. So, every time that they would come by it was a wave that would come inside of your car of water.”