Sheriff’s deputy rescued via human chain while responding to fatal flooding
A Sumner County Sheriff’s deputy was rescued from his submerged patrol vehicle Saturday via a human chain while responding to aid drivers who hydroplaned after driving around road closure barricades.
The sheriff’s office shared photos of the damaged patrol car on Monday and offered words of warning, cautioning drivers to adhere to road closure signs after one of the motorists, 33-year-old Venkatesh Doppalaudi of Nebraska, was found dead Sunday. He has been identified as one of the first fatalities linked to last week’s heavy rain and flooding in parts of Sumner and Sedgwick counties.
Deputies were dispatched to a stretch of South Oliver Road near Slate Creek after receiving reports around 3:15 p.m. Saturday after two vehicles had been overtaken by floodwaters. Both vehicles had been traveling north after driving around two separate sets of “Road Closed” barricades when they hydroplaned, the sheriff’s office said on Facebook. The first vehicle went into a ditch, while the second was spun around and swept into a field.
Three patrol vehicles from the sheriff’s office went to the scene. The first two stopped short of water covering the roadway and came to a stop, but the third hydroplaned and was swept into the field.
“With the help of his fellow deputies, who formed a human chain, the deputy was safely pulled from the water,” the sheriff’s office said. “After rescuing their fellow deputy, the deputies immediately turned their attention back to the emergency they had been dispatched to, even as they watched their patrol vehicle disappear beneath the floodwaters.”
The driver of the vehicle in the ditch was rescued and later issued a citation, the sheriff’s office said. The second driver, Doppalaudi, was not immediately found, prompting a four-hour search. According to a witness, the Sheriff’s Office said, Doppalaudi never exited the vehicle. Police from Wellington deployed a drone, and the Kansas Highway Patrol Air Unit used a helicopter to search for Doppalaudi. Crews returned to search for him on Sunday, and he was found a quarter mile downstream from Oliver around noon.
The patrol vehicle was also recovered and was heavily damaged, the Facebook post said. In its post, the sheriff’s office called the incident preventable, noting it endangered first responders and emphasizing the importance of abiding by road closure signs.
“Road Closed signs and barricades are placed for a reason. They are there to protect you from hazards that may not be visible until it is too late,” the post said. “Please respect road closure signs. No destination is worth risking your life — or the lives of those who come to help.”
