A Texas nurse and mother of two was killed after her car was swept into fast-moving floodwaters as she spoke with 911 dispatchers.
Joelle Taylor, 53, called the Bandera County Sheriff’s Office around 5:30 a.m. on Monday, June 15, after rising water carried her vehicle into a creek, according to authorities.
Taylor told dispatchers that her car had been swept away and that she was floating downstream at a high speed. She also said she could not get out of the vehicle.
911 operators stayed on the phone with her for several minutes before the call suddenly dropped.
Before losing contact, dispatchers were able to ping Taylor’s cellphone and provide emergency crews with her last known location, the sheriff’s office said.
When officers arrived in the area, they found Taylor’s car. Her body was discovered inside.
Taylor worked as a registered nurse at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio. Her obituary described her as a loving wife, mother, stepmother, and family member whose “sweetness never left her.”
She is survived by her husband, two children, three stepsons, and many relatives.
Taylor was remembered as “all sweetness and kindness,” with “a little stubbornness mixed in.” Her obituary added that “those she loved, she loved fiercely.”
Her death came as dangerous weather brought heavy rain and flooding across parts of the southern United States.
The first tropical storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Arthur, formed as Texas and Louisiana faced the threat of life-threatening flooding.
Forecasters said Arthur was expected to have its strongest impact on Texas and Louisiana before moving inland. Bands of rain were also forecast to spread into Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle, raising concerns about more potentially life-threatening flooding.
Taylor’s final call has left her community heartbroken, as a routine morning drive turned into a deadly tragedy in a matter of minutes.
