Severe weather adds hazards for outdoor workers. A massive storm that unleashed a torrent of water with no warning led to an employee’s death at an excavation project in Texas.
The construction worker was trapped in a flooded tunnel under a highway.
Four workers were in a 24-inch diameter tunnel being dug for a water main according to Conroe, TX, police.
When a heavy downpour moved through the area, a supervisor told the employees to get out of the tunnel. Three employees were able to escape, one was not.
The employee’s body was found just more than two hours later, 50 feet from the tunnel’s opening.
The deceased employee worked for Boring and Tunneling Co. of America for 9 years.
The company’s president called the incident “a freak flood event.”
OSHA is investigating.
