Heavy rain and flash floods moving across the region Monday prompted San Antonio firefighters to respond to dozens of high-water calls, including one death on the East Side along Salado Creek.
Between 11 a.m. Monday and Tuesday morning, the San Antonio Fire Department handled 24 calls for high-water investigations or water rescues, according to public information officer Joseph Arrington. Only one required a full rescue, with two people removed from a vehicle using a ladder truck overnight on the West side near Pinn Road. Most calls involved assisting drivers whose vehicles stalled in floodwaters.
One incident at J Street Park, located in the 3500 block of J Street, resulted in the death of an unidentified man believed to be unhoused.
According to preliminary reports from the San Antonio Police Department and fire officials, officers were dispatched around 6:44 a.m. Tuesday following reports of a man calling for help from trees between the park and Salado Creek. Officers arriving at the scene saw the man holding onto a tree limb in the water.
Police requested a water rescue from firefighters. While waiting for crews to arrive, officers said they could no longer hear the man. Firefighters later recovered him from the creek, where he was pronounced dead.
The fatality came after hours of intense rainfall that pushed creeks and low-water crossings across the region toward flood conditions.
Rainfall totals ranged from about 4 to 7 inches in parts of northern Bexar County, prompting a flash flood warning that was extended several times, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Harrison Tran.
“That by itself was probably higher than your average rainfall,” Tran said, noting that the weather station at San Antonio International Airport typically records about 2.42 inches of rain for the entire month of April.
The bulk of the rain fell in a short window Monday, creating conditions for rapid runoff in an area known for flash flooding. Much of San Antonio sits within “Flash Flood Alley,” where shallow soil and limestone bedrock limit absorption and can cause creeks to rise quickly during heavy storms.
The storm system also disrupted activity across the city.
Several Fiesta events, including the Texas Cavaliers River Parade and Fiesta de los Reyes at Market Square, were canceled Monday due to safety concerns tied to flooding and weather conditions.
Autonomous vehicle company Waymo also temporarily paused operations in San Antonio during the storm.
In a statement, the company said safety is its top priority and that service was halted due to flooding and road conditions. During the storm, an unoccupied Waymo vehicle entered a flooded roadway and was swept into an active waterway. The company said it is working with local authorities to recover the vehicle.
Many residents received emergency alerts on their phones during the storm. Those messages are part of the federal Wireless Emergency Alerts system, which allows authorized officials — including the National Weather Service — to send geographically targeted warnings about imminent threats such as flash flooding.
Conditions are expected to improve as the week continues, though some rain remains in the short-term forecast.
“Today we have another kind of cool, drizzly, rainy day,” Tran said. “Tomorrow, there could still be some rain, but it’ll be a warmer day, so we’ll go back to a warm and humid, spring-like pattern.”
By Thursday and Friday, conditions are expected to turn warmer and drier, Tran said.
The latest flooding comes less than a year after one of the deadliest flood events in San Antonio history.
In June 2025, fast-moving floodwaters swept vehicles off a Loop 410 access road near Perrin Beitel, killing 13 people in a single morning. Additional flooding later in the summer brought the yearly death toll to at least 15, making it the city’s deadliest flood year in decades.
Following those events, Bexar County officials approved efforts to expand flood warning systems, including a state-funded program to install sirens in areas identified as high risk for flash flooding.
County leaders are also working with the San Antonio River Authority to develop a broader “NextGen” flood monitoring system aimed at improving detection and warning capabilities across local waterways.
