MedStar crash responses more than double during DFW rain downpour

A nearly constant downpour in Dallas-Fort Worth kept first responders busy on Saturday.

In Arlington, Michael Merrell felt a jolt around 8:30 a.m.

“We heard a loud, like lighting and thunder from the storm, and it seemed super close,” he said. “The house kind of shook a little bit.”

They believe lightning struck their electrical box or nearby and sparked a fire, destroying their garage.

“Total electrical rebuild; the panels got fried and burned,” Merrell said.

Thunderstorms were accompanied by unyielding rain, shutting down roads across the metroplex, including part of Old Granbury Road in Fort Worth.

The city’s stormwater team said they responded to 20 locations out of caution.

Fort Worth Police said it involved three cars, with three people taken to the hospital. One of them died.

Police said it was too early to tell if weather was a factor in the accident.

“When you have high speeds, wet roads, some ponding, it is more than likely that that’s causing the significant increase in crashes that we’ve seen today,” Zavadsky said.

He said the trend is higher than MedStar normally sees.

“During a normal rain event, we typically see a 20% to 25% increase in vehicle crashes. To see a 100%, 115% increase in vehicle crashes, very unusual,” he said.

Zavadsky said that could have something to do with the fact that Saturday brought several hours of rain.

“So, there’s a lot of ponding on the roadways leading to hydroplaning at high speeds, which is likely what’s causing a lot of these crashes,” he said.