HOUSTON – NEVER attempt to drive through flood waters. Just six inches of water can knock an adult off their feet and 12 inches can move a car.
A woman decided to go against the warning of Houston Firefighters and take her chances at driving through flood waters covering a road in Kingwood on Saturday.
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Needless to say, she didn’t get very far.
This happened just as KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding was arriving at the Houston Fire Department Station 102 for a story with Houston Firefighters who are working relentlessly around the clock to rescue residents from rising flood waters.
We’re riding along with @HoustonFire and @FirefightersHOU as they use boats to reach homes surrounded by flood waters in Kingwood, TX. @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/Pr0AorVVZi
— Gage Goulding - KPRC 2 (@GageGoulding) May 5, 2024
After parking on dry ground, the Houston Fire Department sent a high-water truck to pick up the news crew and safely transport them through the flood waters.
That’s when another driver decided to follow suit, eventually finding themselves stuck on high ground surrounded by flood waters on all sides.
Roya Pisheh: “I can’t just leave the car here and just walk back. So, what’s the way to get out of here?”
Houston Firefighter: “You have to wait until the water goes down.”
KPRC 2 cameras were recording as Houston Firefighters told Roya several times it was a bad idea to drive through the water and encouraged her to leave her vehicle on high ground near the fire station.
She didn’t listen.
Instead, she drove down into the flood waters where her Toyota Camry broke down.
Firefighter: “You should have stayed there where you were at, ma’am.”
Pisheh: “What should I do?”
Firefighter: “And we told you...”
Pisheh: “I was going to drive my car. There’s no other way to come back?”
Firefighter: “No, ma’am. We told you not to drive your car.”
Not only did they have to put themselves in harm’s way be rescuing Pisheh, the firefighters’ main access road to their station is now blocked by her broken down car.
Two firefighters with the Water Strike Team walked Pisheh to dry ground.
- MORE KINGWOOD FLOOD NEWS: Bridge closure: West Lake Houston Parkway impacted by high water
Flood water in the Kingwood neighborhood is nearly up to the stop signs. @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/Ey6vFJQima
— Gage Goulding - KPRC 2 (@GageGoulding) May 4, 2024
After the fanfare, firefighters took our crew on a tour the Forest Cove portion of Kingwood. Roads here are flooded by well over five feet of water. At some points, the water is nearly touching the top of street signs.
“These two rivers, the Trinity and San Jacinto, haven’t seen this much water since 1994,” said Captain Beau Moreno with the Houston Fire Department.
Their mission today: look for anyone who didn’t evacuate and needs to be rescued.
“We’re going around checking, people that are still in their homes that have refused to leave,” Moreno said. “Even though there’s an evacuation, doesn’t mean they have to leave. We can’t force them to leave. So, we just want to make sure that they’re out here safe. During this event. We know that we have 18 people that are sheltered in place. We’ve also evacuated 23 people today.”
During our trip, they didn’t find anyone who needed rescued. That’s a good thing.
Back near Fire Station 102, there was another rescue about to happen. This time, it wasn’t with a firefighter, but rather a bare-chested brave man.
“I had to take my shirt off, unfortunately,” Jeff Wood said.
He went all-in on helping Pisheh retrieve her car from the flood waters, using a strap and his off-road vehicle to tow her car from the water.
It’s then we learned why she drove into the water in the first place.
Gage: “The fire department said, ‘No, you should leave your car here. You’re stuck. You shouldn’t drive through the water.’ Why did you continue to drive through?”
Pisheh: “Because I had to pick up my son, and he’s alone all the way into Houston.”
It’s not a good excuse to get stuck, but it is a good reason for an everyday guy to do something extraordinary.
“Well, it’s the right thing to do. I mean, that’s what all Texans will do,” Wood said.