LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – City agencies and MSD are responding after the flash flood on Sept. 8 from the remnants of Gordon, giving a clear timeline that explains how a cab driver lost his life in a viaduct.
Fire officials said in a media briefing on Tuesday that Abdinasir Siyat, 40, made his first of three calls to 911 at 8:46 p.m. but gave dispatchers the wrong address.
Siyat told the dispatcher that he was at Dixie and Oak streets. Louisville Fire arrived within minutes but found no one.
A bystander called to report a vehicle in the water at 13th and Oak. When LFD arrived, the Yellow Cab taxi was already underwater. The rescue team went into the water but were unable to access the vehicle, according to the Louisville Fire Department. Fire crews there reported they could find no victims and cleared the scene to respond to several other calls.
When fire crews returned an hour and a half later, the water had receded and they found Siyat in the back seat.
Louisville Metro Public Services Chief Doug Hamilton explained that early weather reports by the National Weather Service for that weekend predicted a total of two to three inches of rain over a four-day period, which warranted no alarm.
Our First Alert Stormteam Forecast suggested something different, predicting three to 7 inches of rain. Our First Alert Stormteam reported three to 6 inches of rain within three hours on Saturday, Sept., something emergency services said they were not expecting.
Barriers were not in place at 13th and Oak due to the flash flood being unexpected, according to Hamilton.
In all, Louisville Fire and Suburban Fire responded to 72 water rescue calls during the two-hour heavy rain.l
Louisville Emergency Management Services emphasizes ‘Turn Around, Don’t Down.’
The city’s Public Works’ Road division is working with MSD to identify the potential standing water depth in each of 32 viaducts in the community and then paint visible marks on each, as an additional warning to keep people from driving through during a heavy rain event.
The city also plans to install a mechanism to trigger visible warning lights to avoid entering flooded areas in the steepest and deepest viaducts.