Yahoo Finance 60-Year-Old Ride-Share Driver Dies in Flash Flood After Calling Husband: 'Lost Her Life for an $18' Fare
Texas officials said a 60-year-old woman died in Dallas County on Monday after her vehicle was swept away by flood waters caused by severe thunderstorms in the state.
"We are reporting our first @DallasCountyTx fatality," County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a tweet. "A 60-year-old woman was killed when her vehicle was swept away by flood waters. Please keep her husband and family in your prayers. Even less than and inch of water on roadways can cause the loss of control of a vehicle."
Just hours before the announcement, Jenkins had declared a state of disaster in Dallas County and requested state and federal assistance for residents affected by the floods.
NBC affiliate KXAS identified the woman who died as Jolene Jarrell, a mother of three.
Jarrell was driving for a ride-sharing service and had just finished taking a passenger to a drop-off location before she encountered floodwaters, the outlet reported.
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We are reporting our first @DallasCountyTx fatality. A 60 year old woman was killed when her vehicle was swept away by flood waters. Please keep her husband and family in your prayers.
Even less than and inch of water on roadways can cause the loss of control of a vehicle.— Clay Jenkins (@JudgeClayJ) August 22, 2022
Mesquite Fire Department Chief Rusty Wilson told KXAS that Jarrell was on the phone with her husband when the car began to fill with water. As it reached her knees, the call was dropped.
"They told me that themselves... were on the phone with her and lost contact with her, so they were in the act of actually looking for her," Wilson said of the family.
Mesquite police and fire departments did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on Tuesday.
While some media outlets reported Jarrell as driving for Uber at the time of the incident, the company told PEOPLE the reports are inaccurate.
In a tweet, reporter Andrea Lucia of CBS affiliate KTVT said friends and family described Jarrell as "a hardworking mom who lost her life for an $18" fare.
"She was the best mom and grandmother anyone can ask for. She was the glue and backbone of this family and didn't deserve this," Jarrell's husband, Jason, told KTVT.
Jason is the person who located his wife's SUV after her death, according to KXAS. Footage shared by the outlet showed the vehicle upside down under a bridge after it was found.
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Mesquite, located east of Dallas, received almost 12 inches of rain on Monday, per FOX affiliate KDFW.
The nine inches that fell over Dallas Fort Worth Airport over 24 hours on Sunday was the most rain the area has seen over that period of time since 1932, according to the National Weather Service Forth Worth.
