HOUSTON – A body was discovered in Brays Bayou near MacGregor Park on Wednesday just days after witnesses reported seeing a woman struggling in the water before being swept away the previous Friday during a storm.
The body was found roughly 10 miles downstream, though the medical examiner has not yet confirmed whether the two cases are connected.
Mario Badillo, a member of Houston Fire Department’s Technical Rescue Team, said crews used boats, thermal imaging devices and light sticks in their search, and still came up empty.
“It was raining, cold, wet. It was miserable, but my priority is to find somebody,” Badillo said.
Badillo said the speed of the water during the storm made the search even more difficult and explains how someone could travel miles downstream in a short amount of time.
“The conditions were moving really fast in Brays — probably about 15 mph,” he said.
Bayous are designed to move water fast, and that’s the danger
Houston’s bayous are engineered to drain water out of neighborhoods quickly after heavy rain. But that same design — deep channels, steep concrete walls, strong currents and slippery surfaces — can make it nearly impossible to escape once someone falls in.
“If you can’t swim, game over. It’d be hard for me to even swim in that water without a personal flotation device,” Badillo said.
Rescuers say people should never underestimate how fast conditions in the bayous can change.
The rain doesn’t have to be local to be dangerous
KPRC2 Meteorologist Justin Stapleton said the threat isn’t always about how much rain falls — it’s about how quickly it falls and how many parts of the bayou system get hit at once.
“That part of Brays Bayou was picking up at least three and a half to almost four inches...but downstream was too...that’s where you run into danger.” Stapleton said.
Hidden hazards beneath the surface
Even for strong swimmers, the bayous present dangers that can’t always be seen. Tree roots, floating debris and bridge columns can trap someone underwater within seconds.
Badillo said awareness of every one of the risks is critical.
“Mother nature is an equalizing force. Don’t ever underestimate her,” he said. “Stay away from the Bayou when it rains, on high land. If you see white caps, you know the water is moving fast.”