Body cameras captured the moment two deputies helped save a woman from her submerged minivan that was swept off the road Thursday morning.
Lenita Auvenshine was driving on Old Foamy Road off State Highway 174 in southern Cleburne when she accidentally drove through the high water on a bridge that goes over a creek, Johnson County Sheriff Adam King said.
The sheriff’s office had gotten a call about water on the roadway shortly after 5 a.m. and precinct workers were on their way to secure the high water gates at the beginning of the road.
“But before they get there, she ... comes down the road not expecting anything,” King said.
Auvenshine said it's not a road she usually takes, and it didn't register with her that it could have been flooded.
“When I hit the water and realized the water was there, before I could put it in reverse I was gone, it took me," she said. "It was just rushing like crazy, so much that it took my car."
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Auvenshine called 911 around 5:30 a.m. and told dispatch she was stuck in the minivan, which was taking on water. She could see the water was at the two-foot mark on a nearby flood gauge, and climbing.
“I’m just thankful that everybody got out and not put anybody in danger," she said. "I would never cross water when I see it high, ever. So for that to happen was just crazy."
Deputies Kyle Graham and Dominique Stimson arrived at 5:40 a.m., before the firefighters.
“I’m very proud of them," the sheriff said. "I was especially proud whenever I saw the video this morning off their body cams and I thought that had they waited just seconds more, I don’t think the outcome would have been positive."
The deputies saw Auvenshine’s minivan hanging over the edge of the bridge with the front end sinking in the water.
Debris had stopped the vehicle from flowing down Buffalo Creek.
Auvenshine, who works in home health, said the deputies who saved her were "just amazing."
“I’ve been through a lot, so I think I’ve always tried to look on the brighter side of everything and I think that everything that happens to you, happens to you for a reason and that you learn and you can pass it on to other people,” she said.
The sheriff said he plans on asking county commissioners for extra funding for high water rescue equipment and training for deputies because they’ve encountered these situations in the past.
