The San Antonio River experienced a dramatic rise from approximately three feet to 25 feet within a two-hour period on Friday, marking a 22-foot surge that triggered catastrophic flash flooding across the city. Eleven people have been confirmed dead as a result of the sudden inundation.
The rapid escalation transformed the normally placid waterway into a fast-moving, debris-filled torrent. Streets were submerged, trapping motorists and flooding residential areas. The Bexar County medical examiner’s office confirmed the fatalities, with victims discovered in submerged vehicles and inside flooded homes.
Search-and-rescue teams continued operations into the evening, inspecting stranded cars and damaged structures. Officials anticipate the death toll may increase as searches progress.
The National Weather Service attributed the event to a stalled, intense thunderstorm band that deposited over six inches of rain across Bexar County within hours. The saturated ground could not absorb the precipitation, and runoff rapidly filled creeks and rivers. San Antonio’s geography makes it susceptible to swift runoff and flash flooding, but local authorities characterized Friday’s incident as one of the deadliest in recent memory for a city of 1.43 million residents, the seventh-most populous in the nation according to the 2020 census.
Emergency crews conducted water rescues throughout the day. Major transportation routes, including sections of Interstate 35 and U.S. Highway 90, were closed.
Floodwaters damaged electrical substations and knocked down utility poles, causing power outages for thousands of customers served by CPS Energy, the municipal utility. Officials repeatedly warned that the fast-moving, debris-laden water posed extreme danger, noting that vehicles can be swept away in seconds and individuals can be knocked down and drown. While the National Weather Service had issued warnings and the meteorological conditions were forecast, the speed of the river’s rise caught many off guard.
The shift from three feet to 25 feet in roughly two hours represented an abrupt and violent transformation. San Antonio has invested millions in flood control infrastructure, including drainage projects, but officials acknowledged that no system can fully contain over six inches of rain falling in a few hours across a metropolitan area.
The water inundated homes, vehicles, and claimed lives. The medical examiner’s office conducted autopsies to identify the deceased. Each victim had a name and a family. Search-and-rescue teams worked through the night, checking stranded vehicles and damaged structures for additional victims.
The power outages compounded the crisis, with CPS Energy crews waiting for floodwaters to recede before safely restoring service. Cleanup efforts are expected to take considerably longer than the floodwaters themselves recede.
