Fierce storm hits Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas

Fierce weather hammered Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma over the long holiday weekend, claiming at least nine lives as freezing rain caused accidents and flood waters swept people from their cars.

Authorities in Kansas are blaming four more traffic deaths in the Wichita area on the icy conditions gripping the state and other parts of the nation’s midsection.

On Saturday in North Texas, teams were still unable to reach a vehicle that was washed into a creek on Thanksgiving Day with a woman in her 70s trapped inside, said Fort Worth firefighter Kyle Clay. Salazar stopped to assist a motorist stranded in high water on the 11600 block of Oak Grove Road around 2 a.m. While wading through the approximately five feet deep water, the officer was overtaken and swept away.

The situation in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is reported to be too risky as torrential rains are expected to continue throughout the weekend.

Tarrant County Sheriff’s Deputy Krystal Salazar responded to the 911 call for the stranded driver in the 11600 block of Oak Grove Road near Crowley.

Already, a total 55.23 inches of rain has been recorded at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport this year, topping the annual rainfall record of 53.54 inches set in 1991.

More rain if forecast through Sunday.

“Only thing we have to worry about now is the overpasses and bridges”. The Kansas Turnpike Authority said several accidents were reported along Interstate Highway 70 east of Lawrence on Friday. Winds whipping around snow also kept visibility low in some places, and about 100 crashes had been reported by midafternoon, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety office in Amarillo.

Extra troopers have been mobilized to patrol the glazed highways, including heavily traveled Interstate 40 where three people died Thursday when their van skidded across a median and under the trailer of a tractor-trailer.

“For about two hours, we assumed the absolute worst”, said Grisham said.

Meteorologists blamed the weather in part on moisture from Tropical Storm Sandra off the western coast of Mexico.

He said motorists need to take “especially extra, extra caution when driving after dark in conditions like this”.

Ice storm warnings remained in effect Saturday for the Texas panhandle and Oklahoma, and freezing rain is expected to continue into Saturday night in Oklahoma and Kansas, where thousands were without power from downed tree lines, according to the AP.