The bodies of three people have been pulled from the lake in two months. Two of those deaths are attributed to rushing stormwater through drainage.
SAN ANTONIO — By the time San Antonio first responders pulled a body out of Woodlawn Lake on Thursday morning, the city had already been taking steps to prevent further loss of life at the near-northwest-side park.
The retrieval of an unidentified man’s remains marks the third body pulled from the lake in two months—two of those lives were lost when they were swept away by floodwaters that surged through drainage ditches. San Antonio fire officials believe the man found Thursday was washed in from this week’s storms further downstream.
The drainage system that feeds into the lake starts at Laddie Place, about 1.7 miles from Woodlawn Lake Park. There, the city has just finished installing a perimeter fence around the large property that’s home to drainage.
The intention is to prevent anyone from going in.
As San Antonio crews continue that work to secure tunnels in the area, city leaders say the timing couldn’t be more urgent. The project is backed by City Council Districts 1 and 7 to help improve public safety, and additional security measures are around the corner.
“The second phase will be to help grate the drainage ditch so bodies and other items cannot flow through,” said City Councilwoman Sukh Kaur.
For Bobby Shaner, who stays in the area, the danger is already far too real.
“When you know it’s gonna rain, get out of the tunnels because that water will come up real fast,” he said. “Next thing you know, you’re gone.”
Shaner says he nearly died when floodwaters rushed in.
“There’s a Y inside the tunnel and I shifted my body to the right and there was a manhole,” he recalls. “I tried to pull myself up. At first, it wouldn’t let me. I said, ‘I ain’t dying today.’ I pulled myself all the way up and stayed until the water went down.”
Two of his friends have drowned, including 61-year-old Delilah Jimenez, who was found in the lake on March 25.
Her memory brings Shaner to tears.
“Helpless,” he says. “She was a good woman.”
As for the unidentified man pulled from the lake Thursday, the Bexar County medical examiner is still working to determine how he died. Meanwhile, the drain covers should be installed by the end of the summer.
The next area of concern is at the Old Spanish Trails Park, where conversations are underway to address and secure that area too.