BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – First responders assisted attendees of one Bexar County graduation celebration after recent rains unexpectedly made the bridge impassable.
Ariella Lopez, who attended the celebration at Commanche Park with her husband and two small children, said someone she believed to be a park staffer waved her family’s vehicle through to make their way to a pavilion around 5:30 p.m. Friday.
At that point, Salado Creek was already elevated.
“The water was kind of, it was already covering the bridge, but it wasn’t moving,” Lopez said. “It was like a standstill. So, we were able to drive our vehicle over the bridge just fine.”
Lopez said everyone was enjoying themselves until some of the young guests who were throwing a football noticed that the bridge was completely covered by moving water.
“I was like, oh my god, like the water, it was rushing,” Lopez said. “It was pretty high.”
Fortunately for the attendees, a constable’s deputy was at the park at the time.
“Thank God we had someone on location,” Bexar County Precinct 4 Constable Kathryn Brown said.
When the guests contacted emergency dispatchers, they were able to get in touch with constable deputies at Navajo Civic Center, just yards away from the pavillion.
Deputies began taking action, and calling in those equipped to handle water rescues.
Brown said roughly 50 people were assisted by her deputies and the San Antonio Fire Department’s Water Rescue Team.
Lopez said that there were a few older adults and young children who were frightened, and was grateful for how firefighters were able to comfort them.
“They were like trying to cheer the kids (up) like, ‘yeah, we’re going on a boat,’” Lopez said. “It was cool.”
Firefighters initially used their truck’s ladder to bring guests across the moving waters, Lopez said, but eventually evacuated most of the guests using a boat.
Lopez said she was glad everything ended well, but expressed frustration that the guests were put in that situation.
“They should have never let anybody down there,” Lopez said.
As a result of the raised water level in Salado Creek on Friday, some pavilion reservations were closed for the remainder of the weekend.
Brown said Bexar County Parks and Recreation officials are monitoring the creeks and other waterways in county venues and keeping law enforcement informed.
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