Night started off with the original plan in mind to go pick up a buddy of mine (JEFFSGTP from ClubGP) to go grab a bite to eat and drive around a bit just for the hell of it then go back home and play America's Army. As far as I can remember I left the house about 10:00 pm and got into some heavy rain on my way to his house. Picked him up and went to go fill up with gas and noticed that one of the convenience stores already had water in the entire parking lot. So after seeing that we decided to go for a drive before coming back for food.
Made our way out to the area that sits right outside of Wichita Falls and Iowa Park which is the next town over. Once we got there we realized that the water was so deep in places that people had already begun to get their vehicles stranded, but had already abandoned them before we arrived. Without knowing what was going to happen within the next couple of hours we made our way down Wellington street which was the area that was about to be hardest hit by the flood waters. It was already fairly deep in some places but certianly nothing to worry about with the Land Rover. However after the time we had spent going back and forth drawing peoples attention to what was going on, and trying to help two motorists get off of the road before they got stuck, the waters got much, much deeper.
So deep infact that we finally made the decision that we needed to get the hell out or we was going to loose the Land Rover and we were going to be joining these residents on top of their roofs within minutes. Take in mind, we left this street the exact same way we had entered before without problem. However this time... there were people out walking in this stuff and it was as deep as their chest. There is a railroad track on the other side of the four lane highway that intersects this road so I went straight for that in hopes that I could get up out of the water. We succeeded but not before we had reached waters so deep that it was over out hood and partially up to the window, and when I say that. I do not mean the water was splashing up on it, standing water was this high.
After getting the hell out of there we made a large circle back around to 'Old Iowa Park Highway' which was the main highway that intersected all of these smaller side roads and was getting flooded itself. The reason we even came back is becuase I had gotten word that my dad had decided to try and make it home and had ended up sinking his truck. However after just a little ways of traveling back down this road we made the decision to turn back and not go any further. Not wanting to put the Land Rover or ourselves in that bad of a situation again. Instead I handed the Land Rover over to Jeff (JEFFSGTP) and I went ahead on foot. I made it a good ways until the water had reached pretty well up to my shoulders, and I was going agianst the current so I had reached the point were I could go no further, and let me add. It's quite the experience walking down the middle of a dark four lane highway by yourself, knee to chest high in water, while it's thundering and lightening all around you in the sky.
Luckily I was able to get picked up by a firetruck, however they couldn't go any further with it either so we ended up turning around and heading back, but not before we spotted a boat coming at us and we got out to catch it and tie it to the back of the truck. Myself and one of the rescuers walking alongside it to keep it stable since obviously there were people on board, one being a elderly lady who was quickly going into shock. The water was cold as hell.
Luckily for us we reached a 'high' point in the road were the water was so shallow that the boat bottomed out and a Safety Officer Dodge Ram was parked, thats were we ended up staying for who knows how long becuase no one could reach us, except for Jeff.... However, the Fire Chief at the command post would absolutely not let anyone past that point until Jeff tried a second time a few moments later and told him he was a off duty cop. Thank god for that seeing as the Fire Chief quickly let him go for it.
First thing I heard on the radio was something about 'Officer Wagner' 'Off Duty cop' and 'attempting it with a Land Rover'.
So myself and the rest of the people we had managed to gather from their homes turned around and watched him make his way down the road. A guy that had been rescued was the first to observe, and mention "His headlights are under water" and sure enough they were becuase when he drove over a high point in the road they came up and went right back down under the water. The only thing you could see was the top of the cab and the four huge ass Hella 4,000's on the roof.
Once he made it we immediately loaded up the older lady in the cargo area then three adults in the back row of seats along with two kids, which is all we had room for considering myself and Jeff took up the front seats. After a thorough check from everyone inside to make sure the doors were shut good we headed off in the direction we had came from. Needless to say they were fairly speachless for the most part becuase I doubt they had ever gotten the opportunity to ride in a vehicle that can take them through water so deep they can look out the side windows and see underneath it the water.
Since Jeff had already made it there by himself we were confident that we would make it back since we now had all the extra weight in the Rover to keep us from floating sideways, and of-course once we got back to the command post we first got the lady out of the back and promptly into the hands AMR so that she could be taken to the hospital while the others loaded up on the buses the city had brought to shuttle the flood victims to the nearby Red Cross setup at the Church. After hanging around for a while longer and making sure that they no longer needed us around we headed off to Wal-Mart.
To buy myself some new shoes, socks, and some dry f*cking pants.
...and then a chilli dog From Sonic.
So yeah, twas a fun night.
Anyways...... here are some pictures I took this morning of the Land Rover's new 'fish bowls' and of my dads truck that was eventually found once the flood waters had went down. Sorry I don't have any pictures of all the action last night.... but that was the last thing on our mind. However Jeff does have a picture, and a short little video on his phone of something from last night that I will post whenever I get a hold of it. I also have a picture on my phone but it's toast now.
(Pictures Below)
Originally Posted by Bio248
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