The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 23, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 7, 2007 Page: 4 of 32
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THURSDAY 7 JUNE 20D7
NEWS PAGE
THE CANADIAN RECORD
Water-winged angels rescue
family from Wolf Creek flood
By Laurie Ezzell Brawn
REGINA DELDZIER AND HER FAMILY were on the
finalstretch of® day-long journey home to.Spear-
manwhen they passed through Canadian around
midnight on May 23, and turned north onto US
83, directly into the eye of the storm. Little did
they know that within the next hour, they would
be partially immersed in the rising flood waters
of South Wolf ©reek and praying for an angel.
What they got, instead, were many angels.
Regina and her two daughters were re-
turning from a trip halfway aeross the country
where they introduced 10-month old Avreti—
daughter Amber's son—to his KeImor. Tennes-
see. relatives. They had been on the road since 4
a.m. that Wednesday, had stopped in Canadian
for a bite to eat,, and were following the light-
ning-threaded sky north when they spotted a
trio of backlit funnel clouds on the otherwise
blaek horizon. Regina—who has only lived in
Texas for six years now—had been on the Cell
phone with her husband, a Panhandle native:,
who told her there had been severe weather in
the area but he thought it had passed. About
then, it began to hail, Regina said, on her brand
: new'"blizzard pearl white" Toyota Avalon.
"Oh, my Lord," she thought, "this can't be
happening. It just can't lie."
BUT IT WAS HAPPENING, and very quickly, it
was getting worse. The hail was pounding the
car so hard that Amber used a baby blanket to
:shield her son in case it shattered the wind-
shield. "We were just creeping along," Regina
: said. "I kept driving, hoping to get out of it."
Finally, the hail abated, and the family reached
the cutoff to Spearman for the last 17-mile leg of
the trip. The orange and white roadblock crossing
Farm-to-Market 7§9 stopped them cold.
On the phone again, Regina's husband told
her to head back to 83 and keep going straight.
It was very dark, she said, but had stopped
raining. "I could barely see the taillights of
a truck in fi'ont of me, so I followed that for a
while, thinking it must be okay."
Regina slowed to about 10 mph, captiously
proceeding down the unfamiliar highway. She
could see water running in the bar ditches, go-
ing very fast, "When we first came in to where
we got stuck, I could see the water, but it was
very shallow,'1 she said.
By the time she realized she could not see the
guardrails on South Wolf Creek Bridge, it was
too late. Wolf ci'eek had risen to meet them
The water flooded into the car. The engine
went dead, with only the stranded headlights
and taillights marking their location. "We
knew we were stuck," Regina said. "Water
started.coming in through the doors.*
Looking back on it two weeks later* nothing
that happened next made sense.
BOTH DAUGHTERS GRABBED cell phones and
dialed 9-1-1, Regina's husband is a welder in the
oil patch, and knows the road. "His coll phone
has never worked in thai area before ."she said.
"It was very strange. You see this Stuff on t.v.,
but. never consider it happening to you. It's so
unreal.**
TxDDT crews repairing the flood damaged South Wolf Creek Bridge on Highway B3
The 8*14 dispatchers on the other end of the
line told the family to remain in the car and roll
the window down. "By that time," Regina said,
"the water had gotten up to the car seat and
was shorting it out. The car seat has cooling and
heating, and it started getting really hot. Then
it started automatically moving up under the
steering wheel. I was fighting that thing, kept
pushing it back, and it kept pushing forward."
While Regina wrestled the car seat, her
daughters wielded a flashlight, shooting
beams through the moon roof in an attempt to
Send a signal to anyone out the® in the dark-
ness who might be watching. Ophiltree'County
Sheriff Terry Bouchard and his officers were
on the other end of the bridge by then, but they
knew what Regina did not: the bridge between
them was gone.
"All my units were on the wrong side to get
to her," Sheriff Bouchard said. "We were sit-
ting there helpless.. I was just 300' away, and
Couldn't See what was going on."
THE TRAPPED FAMILY THOUGHT HELP was on
the way at one point when they saw the lights of
an 18-wheeler bearing down on them. "The
closer the vehicle got, we could see that it was a
cattle hauler," Reginasaid. "We were thinking
maybe he could pull us out,"
The truck driver had something else in mind,
though, ''He came straight at us, driving real-
ly fast" she said. "When he came by, the water
splashed thecal-, and it started rocking. The front
end of our ear washed into the trailer and hit it-
like wo didn't have enough problems already."
"He never stopped." she said, still not quite
believing it. "He just kept going. That scared us
even worse."
Eventually, more headlights appeared to
the south. Regina had no idea how much time
had passed, but she knew by then from the 9-1-1
dispatcher that the bridge had washed out to
the north, and that downed trees and power
lines were blocking access from the south. The
water in the Car was covering the front seats,,
and the car had tipped nose-down.
One daughter was waving the flashlight to-
ward the car lights. The other was yelling for
help. "I looked up, and therecame two guys out
of the water, wading toward us. It was waist-
deep by the time they got to us."
Amber handed the baby to one of the
strangers. Regina grabbed the digital and
video cameras, thinking of the priceless fam-
ily photos they held. "The two men helped us
all out." she said. "We just held on to them, and
they walked us across the water?
By the time they reached the shelter of
their rescuers' car and two other vehicles
whose drivers had stopped to assist, they were
wet and cold, and "kind of brain dead," Regina
remembered. "We were a little scared, too."
After a brief discussion, the family climbed
into anot her vehicle, and all three cars started off,
trying to find a way to Spearman. There were big
trees blown into the highway that had not been
there an hour before, Regina said, realizing that a
tornado must have touched down behind them
After several attempts, the trio of cars found
safe passage into Booker, and drove from there
to Perryton and on to Spearman, arriving fi-
nally at about 3 o'clock in the morning.
"They brought us right to our door step,"
she said, adding that the men who helped res-
cue them were Hispanic and spoke little Eng-
lish. "I ran into the house and got some money,
but they wouldn't take a dime."
Today, the shock and exhaustion of that
evening have passed. Regina is thankful that
her family is safe, and wishes she knew her
rescuers' names so that she could do a better
job of thanking them "They were just wonder-
ful," she said, "You think a lot of times there's
nobody out there to help, but they just showed
up. It's fantastic that they were even willing to
get out there to help us."
Regina believes the men were middle-aged,
in their 30's and 10's. One drove an older model
burgundy Pontiac Bonneville or Beretta With
a loud muffler. Another drove an older white
Cadillac, and the two men who actually waded
through that dark, rushing water drove an
SUV which she could identify no further.
All of them were angels—of that there can be
no doubt—who rose from the Wolf Creek flood
waters one long night to lend a helping hand.
HIGHWAY 70
CLOSING UPOATE:
Highway 70 in Ochiltree County has
been impassable since rainstorms and
tornadoes, on May 23 caused flooding
on Wolf Creek,, taking out the South
Wolf Creek Bridge on US Highway 83
north of Canadian, and submerging
parts of Highway 70 underwater.
The bridge was repaired by TxDOT
crews within 12 hours of the damage,
and that road to Perry ton was re-
opened, As soon as the bridge was once
again navigable, Highway 70 was closed
to all through traffic so that TxDOT
could drain water from the roadway.
Public Information Officer Paul
Braun reported Wednesday that high-
way officials are still waiting for the
water to i«cede enough to inspect the
roadway. "Last week we cut a. trench
through SH 70 south of FM 759 to bury
a culvert," Braun said,, "This enabled
the water to drain better from west to
southeast, and improved the drainage-
rate of the roadway."
Braun said that TxDOT will re-
evaluate the road conditions today
(Thursday) and will provide updated
information on the agency website at:
httpj/QOlt,. 6It. 21.201/trWvel/road_condi-
tions2.htm.
HEEDING FLOOD
WATCHES & WARNINGS
With the onslaught of ram many Texans
have endured, comes the realization that
paying attention to flood Warnings and pre-
paring for a flood are vital. State and federal
officials want people to know the following
information. It may prove to be an invalu-
able resource.
Flash flood watch preparations:
•Be alert to signs of flash flooding. 1 ;t>ss
than six inches of fast-moving water can
knock people off their feet, and a car can
float in only two feet of water.
•Make preparations to evacuate if it be-
comes necessary.
Flash flood warning preparatior
•Act quickly, You may have only seconds
to escape. If you are: in a car, get out immedi-
ately and move to higher ground.
•Never drive into w ater across a road.. If
water11 Starts rising around your Car, get out
immediately and move to higher ground.
Drivers often underestimate the power
of floodwater. When there's water running
across a road,, drivers should always turn
around and choose a different route.
Never drive into water running across a
road. These are the facts:
•Six inches of water can cause tires to
lose: traction and begin to slide.
•Twelve inches of water will float many
cars.
•Two feet of rushing Water will carry off
pick-up trucks, SUVs and most other vehicles,
•Water across, a road may hide a missing
Segment of roadbed or a missing bridge.
Roads weaken under floodwater and
drivers Should proceed cautiously after
waters have receded,, since the road may
collapse under the weight of the vehicle.
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 23, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 7, 2007, newspaper, June 7, 2007; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220786/m1/4/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.