ENGLEWOOD — Englewood police officers pulled a woman out of the murky waters that flooded a basement apartment Tuesday evening, but it was too late.
The woman, identified by the coroner as 32-year-old Rachael Haber, died Wednesday morning. At this point, her death is being investigated as a drowning.
Haber did not live in the apartment and was there looking after her friend Kembra Allen's cat, according to Englewood police spokesperson Sgt. Chad Read.
"Rachael was the best friend I could ask for," Allen said. "She was such a beautiful person inside and out. She loved her husband, family, friends, her two cats Calvin and Ralph, and dog Max."
Residents who lived above the apartment at South Acoma Street near West Tufts Avenue called 911 that night because part of the home was flooding and they were worried about their downstairs neighbor.
Read said officers responded as fast as they could, and that there was so much water, they could see a car floating by.
Just before 7 p.m., Englewood officers went inside and saw the stairs leading into the basement partially flooded. The door into the downstairs apartment was underwater.
Read said an officer had to dive several times to kick in the door. Then officers had to feel around in the murky water, because they knew someone was in there. They eventually got a hold of the victim and pulled her out. Read said the water was up to the ceiling in the basement apartment.
Read said the victim was not responsive when she was pulled out of the water. The officers performed CPR.
The cat that lived in the apartment did not survive. Allen said she lost her two best friends in the flood, which also destroyed all of her belongings and home. Her sister set up a GoFundMe account to help her get back on her feet.
"My cat Samson was by my side for 14 years, and still had a lot of life left in him," Allen said. "... Rachael will be missed dearly by her husband, as well as the rest of her family, friends, colleagues and pets, and she will remain in our hearts always."
Read said the Englewood Police Department will not be doing a criminal investigation into what happened, because nothing criminal occurred.
It’s not clear how quickly the water filled the basement apartment and why the woman was not able to escape.
In a statement, the city of Englewood categorized Tuesday night's storm as a "100-year event with an estimated 2.5 inches of rainfall in 30 minutes."
"That much rainfall in such a short amount of time quickly exceeded the infrastructure's capacity," the statement reads.
The 9NEWS weather team has contacted the National Weather Service and is working to verify the city of Englewood's characterization of the storm.
The city of Englewood also said it will not be conducting an investigation into Haber's death and that the 2015 code that requires emergency escape openings was not retroactive and did not apply to the home on Acoma Street.
