A 32-year-old woman drowned when she got out of her car during a flash flood in the Oblatos neighborhood of Guadalajara last week. A fierce current of water dragged Jessica Natali Velasco Polanco more than 400 meters to her death, police said.
Velasco decided to get out of her Toyota Camray after it became engulfed by rising waters as she drove along Calle Hacienda Ciénega de Mata during a storm battering the northeastern sector of the city Thursday, July 28.
A passenger remained in the car as it was pulled along by the current. She was eventually rescued by neighbors when the vehicle was brought to a halt by a pillar underneath a bridge.
Once the storm abated, an emergency crew quickly located Velasco’s lifeless body.
Civil Protection recommends that anyone caught in raging floods should remain in their vehicle for as long as possible, and get on to the roof of the car and wait for help rather than risk entering fast moving water.
Velasco was the third person to die as a consequence of inclement weather conditions since the start of the rainy season. In June, a 17-year-old motorcyclist died after being swept away by a strong current during a rainstorm in San Juan de los Lagos, and a 50-year-old man was killed by lightning in Totolan.
Cabe recordar que, en el pasado mes de junio dos personas murieron, Martín Díaz González de 17 años de edad fue arrastrado por la corriente cuando circulaba en una motocicleta en la cabecera municipal de San Juan de los Lagos y Jaime Fonseca Camarena, de 50 años de edad, quien se refugiaba de una tormenta en el municipio de Totolán cuando un rayo lo alcanzó y le causó la muerte.