Emergency Crews Recover Body Of Flooding Victim In Southeast Travis County [UPDATES]

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX -- Emergency officials on Sunday recovered a body south of the county, in a region where two people were believed to have been swept away by raging waters in Friday's flooding.

Lisa Block, spokeswoman for the Travis County Emergency Services, told Patch the body was found Sunday afternoon near FM 812 and Texas 130. The site is in the midst of a part of the county that's been grimly nicknamed "Flash Flood Alley" -- given how prone it is to flooding -- where three people were killed last year.

"It was first located by Travis County Star Flight at 11:30 this morning," Block said of the body, during a telephone interview with Patch early Sunday evening. "There was no identification on the body. It was an adult Hispanic male wearing a black shirt, blue jeans and black work boots."

Before the discovery of the body, Austin-Travis County EMS officials early Friday responded to a 911 call alerting them of a man clutching to a pole amid raging flood waters, with a submerged vehicle close by. Block said on Sunday it's unknown whether the body discovered is the same man who was holding on to that pole or was the owner of that flooded vehicle.

The caller on Friday also reported having seen other people in the vehicle, but they were gone by the time EMS crews got to the scene. As a result of those accounts, Block said the possibility exists that more bodies might be found when emergency crews resume their search for more victims on Tuesday.

"There could be others," Block said when asked about the possibility of finding other flood victims, given the eyewitness account on Friday.

Efforts to identify the deceased man found Sunday are further complicated because nobody has called authorities to report a missing person, Block said. She asked Patch to convey to readers that if anyone has information as to the victim's identity, they should call 911.

For now, the search for more victims is postponed until after Memorial Day, according to Block. STAR Flight conducted a thorough search of the landscape after crews hoisted the body up the helicopter, but no other bodies were spotted.

The focus on Tuesday when the search resumes will be the heavily vegetated area of the retention ponds where the man's body was found, with plans to thoroughly inspect the site with the use of sonar equipment, an all-terrain vehicle and professional divers, Block said.

Sunday's grim discovery yields a stark reminder of the dangers inherent in the southeast part of the county -- an area that's been dubbed "flash flood alley" for its propensity to flood during hard rain. It's the same area where three people were killed by flooding in October 2015 during what's now referred to as the "Halloween Flood."

A man was swept off a roadway by high waters during last year's flooding and was killed, while residents of nearby Thoroughbred Farms were carried away from their homes.

"We always remind people to keep an eye on the weather, and try to stay off the roads," Block said. "That's why this area is known as 'flash flood alley,' " Block said.