CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Sunday's flash flooding on roads across Corpus Christi and Flour Bluff left drivers in potentially dangerous situations.
Corpus Christi Fire Department Chief Robert Rocha told 3NEWS, "it's been a while since it's rained here in Corpus Christi and we want to remind residents that whenever there is high water, we want to make sure that we encourage people not to drive through."
The rainfall our area desperately needed has come down in such heavy quantities that some of our streets can barely be seen. This means that vehicles are at high risk of getting stuck.
"If you get stuck in the water, if water's coming in, you want to get out," Rocha said, "but if water's not coming in, just go ahead and stay where you are, call 911, and we'll come get you out."
Just over two inches of rain fell by 3 p.m. That's in addition to more than an inch of rain that came in Saturday. This is the first time the Coastal Bend has seen more than half an inch of rain since July 1st.
Panjo's Pizza is right off Airline Rd., which is near some of the worst flooding. 3NEWS caught up with Chris Hernandez who was dining in despite harsh weather conditions.
"We came from church, all the way from Rodd Field and Saratoga," Hernandez said. "It was flooded down Rodd Field, it was flooded down Airline, but we didn't let that stop us from coming to eat."
Casey Garrett's family has owned Panjo's since 1964 and said flooding on Airline Rd. is common, even after the City of Corpus Christi added a new storm water system with more capacity last year.
"When they re-did everything, we were kind of hoping that it would ease it up a little bit, but no, it's just as bad," Garrett shared. "Already this morning I've seen a couple cars flooded already."
As far as business goes, the flooding isn't hurting her spirit. "People will take their boats to get here if they need to, but yeah, it's not stopping anybody from coming in here," Garrett added.
Seeing the silver lining, Garrett said the rain is a welcome sign after a summer of extreme drought.
"I feel like people are kind of happy now that it's raining cause we haven't had rain in so long, so nobody seems really bummed out," she said. "Just everybody's soaking wet and that's okay. I think they're still fine."
For more information on flooding in town, check out our 3NEWS Live Blog below:
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