Texas Floods Wash Away 2 Women

Two people died in central Texas when their cars were swept off flooded roads after heavy rains, and San Antonio authorities received two dozen calls for high-water rescues, authorities said Monday.

The severe springtime storms dumped up to several inches of rain on parts of Texas, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella. From Austin to San Antonio, creeks overflowed in a flash, trapping drivers in rushing water.

A 24-year-old woman was found dead after the car she was driving was swept into a creek.

The woman, identified as Mary Rachel Quest, was from Lubbock, according to Guadalupe County Sheriff Arnold Zwicke.

Authorities were called about 2:20 a.m. Monday with a report of a car going off a road near Highway 123 north of Seguin.

Zwicke said the car, carrying three men and Quest, stalled in several inches of water. One man left to get help, and the two others tried to push the car along the road with the woman behind the wheel, he said. The car began to roll freely, then entered 2 to 3 feet of water crossing the roadway and was swept into the creek.

Zwicke said the woman was able to get out of the car but was swept downstream, where her body was later recovered.

Seguin is about 35 miles east of San Antonio. Zwicke said Quest and the others were in Seguin to visit a friend.

A second woman, identified by the Comal County Sheriff's Office as 52-year-old Gloria Janet Shirk of Canyon Lake, was found Monday a quarter of a mile downstream from her car in Rebecca Creek.

Canyon Lake is about 50 miles northeast of San Antonio.

San Antonio Fire Department District Chief Randy Jenkins said the department got 24 calls for high-water rescues over the weekend.

Jenkins said there were no deaths, but reiterated the need to be careful in a heavy downpour.

"If you cannot see the road, don't drive on the road," he said, adding that drivers should never go around barricades set up on roads where water is likely to pool.

Ted Manganello of the Bexar County Fire Marshal's office said there was one report of a successful high-water rescue from a car just before 3 a.m. Monday.

Greg Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's southern region, said most parts of the Hill Country outside San Antonio got at least 3 inches of rain. He said Lockhart, about 70 miles northeast of San Antonio, saw an estimated 8 inches. San Antonio officially got 2.07 inches at the airport, he said.

"Eastern sections of Texas can expect another day of scattered flooding and downpours," says CBS News meteorologist George Cullen. "Yesterday, 4.7 inches of rain fell in Brownsville, shattering the old record of 2.7 inches, which has stood since — get this — 1903! Austin also set a record for the date with 1.6 inches.

"Now it looks like an additional 2 to 4 inches could fall in this same general area today," Cullen adds.