Three Dead in Dallas-Area Floods
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The death toll reached three Friday from fierce storms that dumped more than a foot of water in the Dallas (search) area. Two of the victims were found in a flooded creek that washed out a bridge during heavy rain.
A 65-year-old motorist was found Friday about 10 miles downstream from where surging floodwaters (search) collapsed the concrete support columns of a bridge in Ovilla (search), a town about 20 miles southwest of Dallas.
The body of a 52-year-old man was found a day earlier.
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"It's been pretty devastating because we're such a small community and a close-knit community," Ovilla Police Chief Michael Moon said. "We lost a major bridge that goes through our town and we lost two people in our area."
State transportation officials were investigating why the columns collapsed.
A third death in Arlington was also blamed on the severe storms that dropped up to 13 inches of rain in the area late Wednesday and early Thursday.
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The body of a security guard was found by firefighters Thursday evening in a creek, about 100 yards downstream from his sport utility vehicle, said Arlington police Sgt. David McGinty.
A fourth death that had been blamed on the storm — a man whose pickup truck knocked over a utility pole in Dallas — was found to have been caused by a heart attack.
Damage from the falling rain, such as leaking roofs, was estimated to be at least $17 million, said Jerry Johns, president of the Southwestern Insurance Information Service. That preliminary figure excludes flood damage, which is not covered by most homeowners insurance, Johns said.
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In the suburb of Lancaster, city officials were hoping for state and federal help after flooding damaged as many as 200 homes.