Flood — Hemphill, Texas

2014-06-23 · near Canadian, Hemphill, Texas

Event narrative

Reports state two female horseback riders (one 24 years old the other 6 years old) traveling along the banks went missing prior to noon on Monday June 23rd. By 7 PM that day, search and rescue crews located the still saddled horse the females were last seen riding downstream of the US 60 bridge spanning the Canadian River. Roughly 15 minutes later the remains of the 6 year old were recovered. The remains of the 24 year old female were recovered 5 days later 2 miles downstream from the US 60 bridge. Preliminary autopsy results showed the cause of death to be drowning.

Wider weather episode

A slow moving supercell thunderstorm produced periods of heavy rain over Hemphill County during the afternoon hours of the 22nd. This heavy rain led to the Canadian River to rise above banks at the town of Canadian (Hemphill County) by 7:30 AM on the 23rd.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.9373, -100.3716)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 525914. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.