foreign [Applause] foreign [Applause] stuck in their car yeah way out there past the light pole way out past the light pole yeah that line out there is the car Florida station we're going to need a boat to get this girl out of the water [Music] foreign hours of Saturday August 24 2019 torrential downpours triggered flash flooding in Fort Smith Arkansas local weather stations reported up to eight inches of rain in some Pockets the flooding was so severe that roads and highways were closed and residents were displaced from more than 62 homes streets were littered with stranded vehicles with many cars filled to the roof with water one motorist 47 year old Deborah Stevens mistakenly turned onto a flooded Road and hopelessly watched as flood waters washed her car off Kincaid Avenue this is Deborah's story based on the outpouring of sympathy for her plight one thing about Deborah Stevens is certain she was universally adored Miss Deborah Stevens was a resident of Fort Smith Arkansas for many years she taught Sunday school to young children at the Eastside Baptist Church she was without children herself but she had a white poodle named Sammy whom she spoiled the people who knew Debra described her as genuinely kind loving and caring she enjoyed bringing smiles to the faces of her co-workers by leaving bags of candy for them additionally Deborah was known to provide Christmas gifts to the children of her close friends for more than 20 years she Faithfully served her community by delivering newspapers in the early mornings it was work that she took pride in and she rarely missed a day no matter the weather Donna Renault is a former Fort Smith Arkansas emergency dispatcher she had five years of experience as a 9-1-1 operator in 2018 she became a certified Communications training officer and was responsible for orienting new dispatchers just six months before August 24th she was named fire dispatcher of the year Fort Smith police chief Danny Baker described Donna as a good decent human being who has saved countless lives in her five-year career however when Donna felt there was no upward mobility within the department she tendered her resignation two weeks before the 24th in an exit interview obtained by kfsm TV Donna said she was leaving to return to school but some of her answers revealed discontentment for example she stated she was unhappy with her relationship with supervisors and supervisors were often unavailable to assist with the overnight shift in addition she felt that many promises were broken to the third shift articularly allowing dispatchers to have a distress break after taking a high stress call Donna Renault showed up to work the overnight shift on August 23rd knowing it would be her final shift on the job according to the National Weather Service flash flooding is flooding that begins within three to six hours and is most often due to extremely heavy rainfall from thunderstorms it happened so quickly that people especially motorists may be caught off guard a driver's situation may become dangerous if they encounter fast moving water while traveling in the early morning hours of Saturday August 24 2019 torrential downpours triggered flash flooding in Fort Smith Arkansas at the local 911 call center the Fort Smith Police Department staff was stretched thin only four dispatchers monitored seven emergency lines and nine officers were in the field attempting to rescue multiple flood victims 37 station how many do we have only two four stalled Vehicles one caught on or I'm still trying to get to the vehicle uh but there's another vehicle at I am 16 if you get a call on them they're already calling so they've already caught a record for them though if you get a call for the one at uh North Iowa 16th they have but there's another vehicle trying to get two yeah breaking up for another small vehicle at North L and North Greenwood North L Lincoln and Greenwood they're out right away at 4 35 a.m on Saturday August 24th Deborah drove her SUV to deliver newspapers for the Southwest Times Record when she encountered a flooded Road up ahead she took a shortcut through an apartment complex parking lot however unexpectedly brisk Waters swept away her vehicle her car eventually became trapped among trees as the waters continued to rise Deborah first called her mother-in-law Diane for help but when she noticed flood waters starting to pour in through her Windows she dialed 9-1-1 Deborah's was the 15th call for assistance since 2 55 am on the other end of the line was Donna Renault emergency and it's all the way up to my windows and I can't get out and I'm scared to death ma'am can you please help me really bad I need you to calm down I need to tell me where you are I want me I don't know ma'am I'm on the end of 10K down here by these apartments there's some apartments on Kinkade I don't know what they're called what colors on the other side of Kincaid at the very end of 10K Street there's some performance you have a dark blue car is what I'm asking you what color is your vehicle yeah dark it's it's gray SUV laying in the windows the mortar's all the way up to my windows okay hold on for me don't hang up and it's coming in my windows I mean I'm plugging in water right now man and you're at close to the area 5801 Kincaid yes ma'am I need help right now I'm I'm soaking wet I'm sick and I can't I don't know what to do man okay what's your name hit me and you're in a gray van I'm in a great SUV I'm Martha CX-9 are you a paper person yeah I'm scared okay you're not going to drown just calm down I'm scared you have a right to be sorry did you go off the road into a ditch no ma'am I was in the parking lot of the apartments cutting through to go to my paperwork because I couldn't go down 66th Street because it was flooded and when I got to the end I didn't see I couldn't see the water in that driveway I never water everywhere and it just it just took me away and started pulling me just a second man and then my car died how long is it gonna be man my phone's gonna die and I can't charge it it's gonna get wet it's all the way up it's all the way up to my neck almost okay hold on for me hello I'm listening to you so I said hold on for me all right hold on please handle me anymore I need you to calm down and hold on okay oh I'm scared ma'am I'm sorry I'm scared I need the girls to come near me friends I need somebody to help me finding the vehicle make sure your area 5801 Kincaid I don't know where 58 or 1108 is I don't know I just know there's two sets of Apartments over there she's not sure listen to me listen to me if you're doing the paper you got to know at least a little bit of where you want I can do this paper right over here ma'am I was cutting through to go to my paper route because I couldn't get down 60 tell me where you see then what do you see there's an apartment because all I see is an apartment I don't know the names of any of these apartments what does the apartment complex look like one on the left and I'm in the back side of them back here in a bunch of grass looks like a bunch of trees okay I'm gonna send somebody out there to you okay what don't worry it's getting us through me I'm scared how long is it gonna take I don't have an officer available so it's going to take a minute so I'm gonna try to get somebody out there too you just called okay I'm gonna die it's all the way up to my windows I'm gonna die oh my God [Music] I need to go and tell my mommy back in the morning McDonald's listen to me Miss Debbie just stay on the phone with me I want to get somebody out there too you just hold on I don't hang up because my phone's gonna get wet hold on for me I'm gonna get out and swim if I could I would but I don't know how to swim people are looking at you and they're not going to help you who's that the cars over there they're just all looking at me like I'm stupid I couldn't help it I love it they just started pulling me down the road hey hold on for me I got my lights on in my car is that the only thing you can see I'm not doing anything else what about me information please help me how long ago please listen to me listen to me I need you to calm down and hold on I understand that you're scared but there's nothing I can do sitting in a chair so you got to hold on and I'm gonna send you somebody okay hello hold on I'm still here hold on listen to me I understand hold on for me I'm never gonna let me die I'm gonna let you die oh man I don't wanna die I'm sorry but I don't want to die today oh my gosh somebody help me foreign [Music] hold on for me ma'am I'm holding on man that's all I can do I'm scared cause it's getting higher and higher and my phone's gonna die and y'all ain't gonna find me I'm gonna get this right away okay just hold on for me and I can't sleep I can't swim at all right [Music] foreign Kincaid Avenue I'm on the female I'm on the phone with this female she's stuck in a van she's on a paperwork route I'm in an SUV and she's got water up to her chest what color yeah oh please help me the letter wouldn't be advising to be a great SUV and and I've got my life I've got my lights on inside you can see me ma'am I hear you you tell him I got my license right where they can see me can you tell me how long it's gonna be man you're scared and I'm gonna die you're not gonna die okay no money today am I not on the phone with you trying to get you some help hey I'm sorry I don't know why you're freaking out it's okay I know the water level is high I understand that but you freaking out doing nothing but losing your oxygen up in there you said what I'm sorry as soon as I get there yeah I know man my phone's gonna die I'm not gonna find me I'm just gonna throw my brand new do you really care about your brand new phone I mean you're over there crying for your life who cares about your phone I need to throw up right now well then you're in water you can throw up it's not gonna matter if you got threw up on yourself they'll still help you no my car is fixing to catch on fire how if it's underwater your car's not going to catch fire in water oh it's like an awful funny noise and smoking oh my God man it's all the way up past my doors [Music] you're standing on the phone with me I'm gonna get somebody there too they should be there because I'm sending the fire out to you to help you out I need to call my mother she knows I'm okay okay well you're not okay so you can call your mother-in-law when you're actually out of the vehicle so no you cannot call her right now I'm sorry can you pray will you play with me it hurt me hello I'm here I can still hear everything you're saying to me will you pray with me please you go ahead and start off the prayer and I'll listen to you I sure will yeah please help me get me out of the water safely dear father one of us please they're all around me my vehicle is ruined yeah but it's better that your vehicle is ruined than you being flipped away and nobody knows where you are so just down there okay you have nowhere to be swept away too besides the street that you're on so just calm down okay well I'm at the end of the street but man right now I'm looking at it right now and at the end of the street is some bushes so you'll be just fine just stay on the phone with me and I have an officer I have an officer and a fire department coming out to you so just hold on thank you I'm sorry if I'm rude but I'm just scared I'm married I know you're scared just calm down I'm just scared I've never had anything like this happened to me before this will tell you this will teach you next time don't drive in the water there was no water where I was at okay and when I got to the end of the parking lot I was looking for the road to get out into the main road when I got to the main road it was too late there was water and I didn't I couldn't see it that was enough the water just didn't appear I didn't see it fast enough my headlight went out and I couldn't see it okay it's okay we'll get you up and get you out of there just hold on okay okay now I appreciate it thank you very much you're welcome hey you're not the only one that's been stuck in the water we've had some 80 year olds calm down Carrie this is Gary because I can't swim I didn't think even though you can't swim I think you can still stand up in this how tall are you Carly it's harder than me I don't think so okay well you're not three foot so you'll be just fine okay ma'am [Music] 10-4 they're pulling somebody else out the water and as soon as they do they'll come to you so just stay right there okay nowhere I'm just praying well they take me home to my house ma'am you know 10-4 0 ma'am [Music] [Applause] oh my God it's getting even higher okay just stay on the phone with me I know that you're scared that's why I'm not hanging up with you okay so just stay on the phone will they take me back to my house I don't know what they'll do it I can walk to my house I got animals in my house I gotta get home too and I gotta go get my some more papers so somebody could take me to throw them uh they're not gonna take you and do all that they'll take you and drop you off that's not what I said they need to take you they take me home and my mother-in-law is gonna come get me to throw the rest of my papers I don't know if okay if they'll take you home they're just gonna take you to a dry spot I don't know what they're gonna do when they get there you have to ask them because I have nothing to come get me I'll call my mother-in-law to come get me so you're gonna have her drive out in this yeah she's out doing papers right now and she's a district manager for the Southwest Times Record she's already out throwing around I called her this before I called you on she was out throwing around and she's out in this yes okay you know how much longer it's gonna be man I cannot give you a time oh my God what time is it now man [Music] um that's pretty rude a lot of people have called in on you so I don't think that nobody's just sitting there and they're not going to get yourself in danger because you put yourself in danger I don't understand that ma'am I understand that I'm just scared I know you're scared and the water's creeping up and in a minute I won't be able to talk to you when my phone goes crazy it'll be there before that happens so calm down you I'm sorry man what's your name Donna you're welcome under the gator and I don't know what to do and tell you when it rains again I ain't never doing this that sounds like a good idea because you know 14. I've done papers for 21 years and I've never had it like this yeah I think that's understandable though hold on for me okay this is Donna how can I help you [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] man I can't I got to get all the way up to my neck you can hold on just hold on down the hill [Laughter] freaking out and she says [Music] do you see the officer ma'am no I don't see nobody ma'am thank you I got my lights on I don't see nobody do you hear the fire trucks Russian water ma'am I can't hear nothing okay well don't cry and then don't talk and then let me know if you hear the fire department you know what the fire trucks tell me if you hear the fire trucks oh man all I can hear is Russian water I can headlights over there but I think that's somebody's car I hope they're not broke down literally 5801 King Kate is what she said no she doesn't see her and I don't hear the the uh the apparatuses either are you are you close to Oak Brook Apartments ma'am I'm hoping here by these two sets of Apartments yes ma'am at the end of the street at the very end of the street in between those two apartments yes okay hold on for me hold on sorry man I'm sorry his name is gonna die ma'am hold on for me do you see the fire department no ma'am number seven do you see her vehicle my lights are on inside if you can save my life my interior lights are on are you on the park side are you in the parking lot side are you on the road damn you go down look you go down that street that runs in between those two apartments right there and I'm on and and the street goes to the end and my car veered off to the left and I'm behind these last set of apartments on the left-hand side I'm behind them I guess it's a circle down there I don't know I've never driven down on this part I don't know man in between both apartment complexes on this street at the dead end in the very backside there's a bunch of trees right there 5801 at the end the back side of these apartments are over here where these people are out they can all see they're all standing out they want Miss Debbie you're gonna have to shut up okay I need you to listen listen to me yes ma'am 10-4 can you start your can you start your um is your car still on there like can you honk your horn my horn is dead okay hold on foreign okay hold on for me everything is dead listen to me hold on oh fire are they really yeah they're up even higher it's all the way past my doors hold on for me don't hang up man please hold on for me hold on ladder two oh my God thank you foreign is meeting you in the area 5801 Kincaid Avenue they're trying to come to you the whole parking lot is flooded they're trying to find you okay so hold on for me I'm at the very back I'm at the very back of the end of that road I'm 58 feet that's what street fight is I didn't know man oh my God okay listen to me I know I'm I'm trying to get you as help as I can okay just hold on for me okay man please I know you're scared I know hold on for me because I've got to take other calls plus you and listening okay okay okay [Laughter] dear Lord please just get me out there Lord please help them find me dear Lord please please station one number seven is one and used to go ahead and clip up the boat and get it ready if they should need you okay I know that listen to me they are in the area they are trying to find you they cannot find you right now I'm trying to Ping where you are so do not hang up because it's 911 call it's helping me pin your location so don't don't hang up on me okay where are you moving to tell me where it's going [Applause] okay tell me where you are dead listen to me hold on I'm on the phone with her right now she is legit freaking out she said the vehicle is now moving in the water and she doesn't know which way it's going so stand by okay okay is the water up to your neck yes hold on for me can you tell me tell me where you are yeah okay so are you still on that same road have you hit the mission Miss Debbie you are breathing just fine because you are screaming at me so calm down I need you to calm down I know that you are scared hold on for me foreign okay [Music] [Applause] [Applause] foreign [Music] I'm trying to make my way around the complex to see if I can't get an eye on her better [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Applause] complex on the Southeast side and the only part of her car I can see is the roof and the dome light that's on in it I can't get out there to her and you're gonna have to wait out here to me to get to me so [Applause] [Applause] take Grand come in on 58th you'll see my unit what was the traffic before [Applause] 10-4 if you come up the interstate and get on the east side you'll have to come across from the south she's right down the embankment the cars come all the way down the road on 58 or Kincaid and come up against the embankment out there but there's trees separating her from the highway [Applause] stop there she's way back there yeah is there any way I can get this off and help you I got one with life jacket I'm gonna start getting this off so I can help [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] 's interactions with Deborah Stevens gained national attention as a result the Fort Smith Police Department received hundreds of phone calls complaints and death threats saying Renault was rude for chastising Stevens as she wept and asked for help however it was not until the mainstream and social media became involved that police reluctantly released the 9-1-1 call to the public the ensuing outrage led to an internal investigation the investigation concluded that Donna Renault violated policy by being rude to Deborah Stevens but did nothing that would have warranted her termination had she still been employed by the Fort Smith Police Department in addition Dean Pitts who led the police department's internal review said despite the manner in which Renault spoke to Stevens there was no negligence in renault's actions in dispatching First Responders Pitts explained that it's often necessary to take a Stern or commanding tone or to even raise one's voice when dealing with someone who may be hysterical during a crisis Renault faced no criminal charges in Stevens's death the Fort Smith Police Department issued a separate news release that stated while the operator's response to this extremely tense and dynamic event sounds calloused and uncaring at times sincere efforts were being made to locate and save Miss Stevens the 911 operator who took the call dispatched Fort Smith fire and police units who were inundated with 9-1-1 calls from other citizens also stranded in flood waters exacerbating response and rescue efforts were the facts that Miss Stevens was having trouble describing her exact location and flooding limited the ability of First Responders to reach her when First Responders were finally able to pinpoint the location of Miss Stevens's vehicle the Swift Rising water made immediate rescue impossible an officer on scene removed his duty gear down to life vest and was ready to enter the current tied to a rope but the speed and volume of water made this attempt futile when First Responders were finally able to reach Ms Stevens and extract her from the vehicle she had tragically succumbed to drowning Fort Smith chief of police Danny Baker stated I am heartbroken for this tragic loss of life and my prayers are with Deborah's family and friends all of our First Responders who attempted to save Miss Stevens are distraught over the outcome for every one of us saving lives is at the very core of who we are and why we do what we do when we are unsuccessful it hurts just three weeks after Deborah Stevens's death her mother 80 year old Nancy organ passed away Deborah's mother-in-law Diane stated I do think that Debbie's death played a big role in her mother's death she was broken-hearted yet even in profound grief one relative had a message for Donna Renault I forgive her even though it's hard Deborah Ann Stevens lives on through the many lives she has touched and the children to whom she has imparted her message of joy and faith foreign