SMU Grad Student Drowns in Flooding on Turtle Creek

[MrMustang1965]

from the DMN:

Xin Du came to Dallas to advance her education.

The 22-year-old graduate student died Sunday after being swept away by rushing floodwaters near Wycliff Avenue and Turtle Creek Boulevard.

Ms. Du, a native of Shanghai, China, is the sole fatality linked to the rainstorms that drenched North Texas over the weekend.

She was traveling with Nicole Lew, a Dallas Theological Seminary student whom rescuers were able to pull from the fast-moving water.

The two had been trying to make it through high water from Turtle Creek near the southernmost tip of Highland Park. When their red convertible filled with water, the women bailed out, hanging onto trees and waiting to be rescued.

Jim Caswell, SMU's vice president for student affairs, said Ms. Du was an excellent student with a strong spirit.

"It's just one of those tragedies that you hope doesn't happen and did happen," he said. "Our hearts and prayers go out to Xin Du's family."

Dr. Caswell said the university is unlikely to have a memorial service unless her parents request one.

"We understand that they will be in Dallas within 24 hours to claim the body and go back to Shanghai," he said.

Few outside the biology department knew the quiet student who spent much of her time in the lab.

There are only 15 graduate students in the department, where Ms. Du was working toward a doctorate in molecular and cell biology.

Sun Lai, president of SMU's Chinese Student Union, said he met Ms. Du when he picked her up at the airport in January. He said his organization offered to help get her settled and extended invitations for her to join their group, but he hadn't heard from her.

"She seemed to always be very busy with her studies, so we did not have much contact with her," Mr. Lai said.

Hongmei Li, a graduate student in SMU's chemistry department, said she almost couldn't believe the news.

"I am really sad," she said. "She is a young and pretty girl. Her life is only at the beginning."

SMU is home to 98 students from the People's Republic of China.

[McClown27]

I will pray for her family in this difficult time.

[PonyPride]

Horrible news -- my thoughts go out to her family.