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DAILY NZ P A G E 1A C O L O R CMYK P U B D A T E 07-03-02 O P E R A T O R CCI D A T E 07/03/02 T I M E 00:32

DAILY NZ P A G E 1A C O L O R CMYK P U B D A T E 07-03-02 O P E R A T O R CCI D A T E 07/03/02 T I M E 00:32

From theSan AntonioExpress-Newsand KENS 5. Get personalizednews and information.

Todays WeatherChance of stormsHigh 90, Low 75

Full weather report, Page 10C INDEXBusiness 1E Deaths 4B Movies 3G Sports 1C

Classifieds 1D Editorials 6B Puzzles 10G Stocks 4E

Comics 8G Metro/State 1B S.A. Life 1G TV listings 5G

137th year, No. 272,164 pages. Entirecontents copyright2002, San AntonioExpress-News.This newspaper isrecyclable.

D

S E R V I N G S O U T H T E X A S S I N C E 1 8 6 5

M 50

WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2002

ROBERT MCLEROY/STAFF

Road crews use heavy equipment at U.S. 281 at Basse Road near Quarry Market. The area was full of water Tuesday following heavy rains Monday night.

Germany crash: A Russianpilot ferrying children to a

beach vacation had less

than a minute to avoid an

oncoming cargo jet/3A

Health alert: Hispanic kids

have a disproportionate

share of health problems

that arent being treated, a

new report warns/4A

METRO No fear: Americans are

urged to celebrate Fourth

of July with gusto/1B

INSIDE TODAY S PAPER

TREVOR COLLENS/ASSOCIATED PRESS

SOARINGINTO HISTORY:Pilot SteveFossetts BudLight Spirit ofFreedom balloon

floats at 21,500feet. Fossettmade aviationhistory Tuesday,becoming thefirst person to flya balloon soloaround theworld. See storyon Page 14A.

SPECIAL REPORT: SIX PAGES OF COVERAGE INSIDE

A flood of despairWater rises along with fears of another 1998

The forecastRain chances will

dwindle over the next

three days: Today, 60 percent Thursday, 30 percent Friday, 20 percent

Record rainJuly 2002 already is the

wettest July in San An-

tonio history. Mondays

9.52-inch rainfall

surpassed the previous

record for July 1 (4.07

inches in 1932) and for

the month (8.29 inches

in 1990).

DeathsTwo people one in

San Antonio and one in

Bandera have died as

a result of the flooding.

Flood gaugesCharts detail crest

levels for streams and

rivers in South-Central

Texas/8A, 10A

Radar image of rain-

fall amounts in South-

Central Texas/8A

The inside storiesThe Edwards Aquifer

benefits from the heavy

rains. Its more than 15

feet above the levelthat triggered water use

restrictions in San Anto-

nio last week/8A

A man who was saved

in a dramatic, late-night

rescue says he doesnt

think he should have to

pay a $400 fine for

driving through a low

water crossing during

flooding/11A

The slow-moving

storm system moves far-

ther westward, turning

Uvalde, Bandera and

other communities into

virtual islands. The Frio

River rises 25 feet above

its flood stage/12A

On the WebVisit MySanAntonio.com

for the latest live images

of Doppler radar and

up-to-the-minute street

closures.

COVERAGEHIGHLIGHTS

BY PAMELA CONSTABLE

AND BRADLEY GRAHAM

WASHINGTON POST

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan AU.S. air assault that officials in Uruz-gan province said left 40 civiliansdead and at least 100 wounded hasdrawn the Afghan governmentsstrongest criticism yet of Americanmilitary operations here.

Stronger measures and furtherexplanations are needed to prevent

civilian casualties inthe U.S.-led effort tohunt down al-Qaidaand Taliban fugitives,

Foreign Minister Ab-dullah said Tuesday.

This situation hasto come to an end,he said. Mistakescan take place . . . but

our people should be assured everymeasure has been taken to avoidsuch incidents.

Abdullah, speaking in Kabul,stressed the government wasnt pull-ing back from its support for U.S.anti-terror operations in Afghanistan,which began nine months ago.

A government statement said Presi-dent Hamid Karzai called on theUnited States and its allies to takeall necessary measures to ensure that

military activities to capture terroristgroups do not harm innocent Afghancivilians.

Mondays incident occurred in a re-mote area where U.S. forces havebeen searching for remnants of Tali-ban and al-Qaida forces and wheresome Afghan officials said they be-lieve Mohammed Omar, the Talibansleader, may be hiding.

With details of the incident still indispute, Afghan and U.S. officials

Afghans demand U.S. be carefulKabul irritated at civilian

casualties.

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See AFGHANS/18A

ABDULLAH

BY CINDY TUMIEL

AND KATHERINE LEAL UNMUTH

EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITERS

The ghosts of 1998 stalked the WheatleyHeights neighborhood Tuesday afternoon,where Leon Haywood kept vigil by the swir-ling muddy waters of Salado Creek flowingjust beyond his back yard on Advance Street.

Its been four years, but memories still arefresh of record rains that caused the Salado toslip its banks and inundate Haywoods homewith 18 inches of water.

Now, as rains pounded San Antonio onceagain, Haywood and his neighbors began mak-ing those inevitable comparisons to the Octo-ber 1998 storm. They also made plans.

I dont want to be here late at night whenthe water raises up on me, said Haywood, 39,who said he would leave his home as soon asthe water reached his back gate. It came sofast (in 1998) all I could leave with was someclothes. This time Im going to pre-pack.

Wheatley Heights was one of the worst-hitareas of San Antonio in 1998, when a rare con-fluence of meteorological events stirred up oneof the worst storms in the regions history.Rain pounded the area for two days, causing

Flash floodflashback

See STORM/10A

Storm comparison

Rainfall over24-hour period

Bexar County deaths

Rescue calls received bySan Antonio firefighters

1998 2002

11.26 inches

11

400+

9.52 inches

1

232

Part of I-35; U.S. 281between Loop 410and Hildebrand

Major road closures Parts of I-35; U.S. 281 betweenLoop 410 and Hildebrand; I-10at Loop 1604

FELIPE SOTO/STAFF

TOM REEL/STAFF

Angie Angers(right) helpsdaughterAngelia Angersthrough flood-waters fromGeronimoCreek thatinundated theirhome in theElmwoodsubdivision inSeguin. Thetwo werereturning todry landTuesday afterinspecting thestructure thathad about 2feet of waterinside.

BY AMY DORSETT

EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITER

The heavens provided no mercy Tuesday to aregion already soaked to the bone.

Much of San Antonio was paralyzed as waterseeped into homes and rapids skimmed overstreets, leaving motorists stranded and at leastone dead in the Woodlawn Lake neighborhood.

A second person was killed in Bandera County,which remained largely isolated due to floodedroads.

About 360 people were forced to take refuge inRed Cross shelters in San Antonio, Uvalde, Dilleyand other areas.

Mayor Ed Garza and Bexar County Judge Nel-son Wolff requested a state disaster declaration

from the governors office. More than 200 homeshave been damaged.While not as pervasive as the storm in 1998 or

as deadly as the Great Flood of 1921, when 50 peo-ple died, this storm broke records, too.

Mondays rain alone 9.52 inches set a re-cord for the month of July. Previously, the mostrain recorded in any July was in 1990, when thecity received 8.29 inches.

Tuesday saw less official rain in San Antonio only 1.63 inches as of 7 p.m. but there was as

S.A. may notdry out for days

See TROUBLE/8A