LA MESA, Calif. (KGTV) - An East County native is being remembered after he was killed during flash floods in Texas, weeks before the deadly floods in Kerr County.
Derwin Anderson Jr., 43, died after his car was swept away by floodwaters in western San Antonio in mid-June.
His father, Derwin Anderson, learned of the danger after his son made a panicked call to his son’s wife from his submerged car.
“Panicking. He said, 'I went over the bridge, I'm upside down and I can't get out,' and then the phone went dead," Anderson said.
Anderson Jr. had been on a highway in western San Antonio, on his way to his job driving a gas truck, when storms unleashed some seven inches of rain in just a few hours.
Family members began searching and found Anderson Jr.'s submerged Audi A4 in a river near the highway. It took authorities three days to retrieve the car. It appeared he had been able to kick his way out through a window.
“The front window had been kicked out,” said Anderson.
Six days after he disappeared, Anderson Jr.’s body was found in the river waters several miles from his car. He was one of 13 killed in the flash floods.
Anderson says his son played football at Santana High before enlisting in the Air Force. He served in the Air Force for 16 years as an MP and medic before being medically retired. He had a wife and five children.
“He was my hero. I'm not going to lie. That was my dude… I could have learned from him being a great dad," Anderson said.
Weeks after his son's death, devastating floods would swamp Kerr County, more than an hour northwest of San Antonio, with many youth among the dead.
"I can't grieve for my son, because all these babies I'm concerned about. These babies are gone," Anderson said.
On Monday, Anderson Jr. was buried at a military cemetery in San Antonio, surrounded by loved ones trying to make sense of what happened.
“For the water to come over that freeway, that’s just crazy … Just can't understand it, a freak storm," Anderson said.
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