Driver drowns in flash flood in East Germantown

A 27-year-old woman whose father is a Philadelphia police officer apparently drowned in her car after it was caught in a flash flood in East Germantown, police said Friday.

The woman, whose name has not been released, called her father early Thursday and said she was trapped by flooding at Musgrave and Haines Streets, police said.

The woman told her father that she had called 911, police said. She never arrived home, and when her father did not hear from her, he filed a missing-person report.

Shortly before noon Thursday, police found the woman's SUV and, believing it to be abandoned, had it towed to a lot in West Philadelphia.

Later, officers discovered the woman's body in the backseat. Hers is believed to be the city's first flood-related death this year.

Police described the death as a tragedy and urged motorists to always be on the lookout for flash floods when driving in heavy rain.

Drivers are advised to pull over and wait it out if they see that the road they are on is starting to flood. If water is rising, drivers are advised to get out of the car through a window, get on top of the car, and seek higher ground if possible.