TORONTO – Amid the devastation of Monday’s flash flooding in Texas, there was an especially poignant loss for one family.
Eighteen-year-old homecoming queen Alyssa Ramirez was driving home from her senior prom in Devine, Texas when heavy rains began to flood the road.
Police say she was driving on FM 2200 when her car stalled out due to the rising flood waters. She called 911 as well as her parents, but it was too late.
“She did the right things,” Alyssa’s aunt Roberta Ramirez told NBC News-4 in San Antonio, Texas. “She called 911. She called her father, but it was just too much and too quick.”
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According to police, the gushing waters were so strong they swept Alyssa’s car off the road.
“They weren’t able to find her until this morning. When crews were out there, they were able to locate the vehicle, which wasn’t too far away.”
A homecoming queen, cheerleader, and volleyball player, Alyssa’s friends were stunned to learn of her death just hours after their senior prom, when the teen had been laughing and dancing with her friends and her date.
“I was like, it can’t be happening right now,” said Alyssa’s friend Amber Contreras. “She was a good person. She was always competitive.”
A series of floods and extreme weather events have rocked Texas and the surrounding states in recent days.
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A holiday weekend of storms dumped record rainfall on the American heartland, caused major flooding, spawned tornadoes and killed at least eight people in Oklahoma and Texas. More than 1,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed in Texas, and thousands of residents are displaced.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared disasters in 37 counties, allowing for further mobilization of state resources to assist.
A funeral service for Alyssa will be held Wednesday at the First Baptist Church in Devine. And while her parents are devastated, Roberta Ramirez says they’re turning to their faith to get them through.
“They said she looked just as beautiful, she just looked like she was sleeping,” said Roberta.
“They rest assure that she was a very strong believer and she has her place in Heaven and they’ll meet her again soon.”
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