Strong storms flood freeway, knock out power in Lubbock
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Cleanup is underway after strong storms caused severe flooding in Lubbock on Wednesday night.
The worst flooding shut down Marsha Sharp Freeway at University near the Texas Tech stadium. University north of 19th Street was completely flooded, turning the area into "Lake Marsha Sharp."
The flooding was so sudden and severe, fire crews had to pull people from their vehicles. The primary drainage outlet on Marsha Sharp was bubbling, overwhelmed by water. Drivers looked on from the overpass, unable to go anywhere.
Lubbock Resident Mary Estrada said, "It's scary because I didn't expect it to keep on raining again. I took off and I went to the mall and on my way back I got caught up in this."
Texas Tech Graduate Student Shivam Sisodia said, "That is a poly bag which i have just fetched from Walmart to protect my head from rain."
Texas Tech Senior Chaz Horton said, "Been in Lubbock now for a little over four years and out of all the rain there has never been anything like it, it's just crazy. I did not expect all of this would happen."
The roads began to clear by 10 p.m. and traffic has died down, but many people will need to call a repair shop or an insurance agent on Thursday.
The storms also damaged some area businesses and knocked out power in South Lubbock.
An awning collapsed at 34th and Indiana and some businesses tell us flood waters actually came into their buildings.
Heavy downpours at the fairgrounds forced visitors to take cover.
MKTO still took the stage, but the rides and most of the vendors were shut down, for a while, forcing fairgoers to seek shelter where ever they could.
People piled into the merchant building and into some of the indoor food vendor stations.
About 50 customers were still without power as of 10 p.m. If your power goes out, you can call LP&L at 775-2555 to report the outage.
Please stay away from any downed power lines. If you see a damaged line, call 911 immediately.
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LINK: Current LP&L power outages
SLIDESHOW: Flooding in Lubbock 9/24
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