Turn Around Don't Drown sounds cliche, but critical to driver safety amid rising waters

Dallas, TX and Haltom City, TX—

Swift water rescue teams were busy around the metroplex. Today was a trying day for several area fire and police departments.

Just before daybreak in Dallas, a woman exiting LBJ in a Tahoe was caught in rising flood waters on the service road at Park Central. After a Dallas high water rescue team pulled her to safety, she was taken to an area hospital for treatment of possible hypothermia.

In Haltom City, even the tow truck operators who were called in to retrieve stuck cars, where drivers were rescued, turned away.

Tow truck operator, Mario Rodriguez, says the water must recede first. He said shaking his head, "I'm gonna leave those. I'm gonna leave those until the water goes down. There is no way we can get those out. Triple A will not let us go in there. Even with your tow truck, you know better. Yeah. Even with my tow truck, I know better than to go in there."

Driver Tim Jarvis turned away when he saw a barricaded area. He can't believe others pressed on. Jarvis said, "You see that water, you turn around. You see water like that, you turn around. No way, the water is powerful."

In Haltom City there were several rescues, including two on Midway near swollen Fossil Creek.

Fire Department Deputy Chief, Fred Napp, saved one driver while just going around checking on known trouble spots like Glenview. Later, he says he and firefighters were amazed at the boldness of some drivers, "Even while we were here this morning, we had fire truck parked crossways to keep people from coming. They were driving into the ditches, driving around. If there's barricades, or if there's fire press on the streets, don't drive around it. If you survive getting into the water, you could be cited or even taken to jail because of that. And it's just; your life is not worth driving around a barricade."

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