Rideshare driver dies after Dallas floodwaters sweep her car off bridge as she calls her husband

A woman in Mesquite, Texas, was killed after her car was swept off a bridge (Pictures: CBS News)

A Dallas-area rideshare driver died after floodwaters swept her car off a bridge while she was talking on her phone to her husband.

The victim was a 60-year-old woman in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite.

The woman’s car was recovered by the Mesquite Fire Department on Monday morning.

Family identified her as Joleen Jarrell of Dallas, according to CBS Dallas-Fort Worth. Jarrell, who reportedly worked as an Uber driver, was on her way home.

Jarrell was on the phone with her husband when they abruptly lost contact with her, Mesquite Fire Chief Rusty Wilson said.

He also confirmed that her family came out looking for her, but were unable to find her car until the water levels receded.

It is unclear if she was working as a rideshare driver when her car was swept off the bridge. Uber said that she was not working on the company’s platform during the incident.

The company did not say if she was a registered driver, or if she was previously driving that evening.

Mesquite received a total of 11 inches of rainfall on Monday.

‘You can see where the water level was. All of this out here was underwater,’ said Wilson.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area saw ‘historic’ rainfall and flooding on Sunday and Monday, with some areas getting drenched as much as 15 inches of rainwater.

Dallas has now reported the wettest month of August since records began in 1899, the National Weather Service (NWS) reported. The previous record was set in 1915.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an emergency declaration on Tuesday, allocating additional state funds for the damaged areas.

‘The effect of this storm has been dramatic here in Dallas and Fort Worth, but across multiple regions around the state of Texas,’ said Abbott. An emergency was declared in a total of 23 counties across the north and central parts of the state.

The NWS confirmed that flood warnings would continue in several parts of Dallas until Wednesday morning at the earliest.

The region would likely see more heavy rainfall and thunderstorms through Tuesday and Wednesday.

‘There is literally no meeting or place to be that is worth risking your life or anyone else on the road,’ Dallas City Councilman Adam Bazaldua said on Twitter. ‘Please STAY HOME if at all possible. And if water levels look to high, TURN AROUND!’

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