HIGHWAY HERO: Lone worker unclogs drain on flooded highway, reopens lanes

HOUSTON, Texas -- Not all heroes wear capes, and one in particular was equipped with a hard hat and a shovel.

Severe weather aimed to disrupt Halloween night plans throughout the greater Houston area, and a major symptom of that was street flooding that plagued major roadways and freeways in the city.

Highway 288 was a big problem spot on the Wednesday evening commute. The northbound lanes heading toward downtown Houston were covered in standing water as the rainfall persisted.

It took one person, though, to quickly locate the problem, clear the appropriate drain of debris and, like any superhero, walk away, never to be seen again.

ABC13 reporter Deborah Wrigley captured the man who was already working to get the drain cleared in knee-deep water. The man, who was also wearing a bright neon vest, fished around for the problem for a while before coming up and tossing away landscaping clippings and pieces of a shredded tire.

As a result, the unclogging caused a vortex of water to come down just like a bathtub at home.

When ABC13's newscast returned to Wrigley at the same scene minutes later, traffic was flowing again on the northbound lanes, without the standing water in sight.

According to our reporter, a white truck that had no decals on the side came by to pick up the worker. We do not know whether he was a public works employee or just someone who took it upon himself to solve a problem. During the whole emergency ordeal, Wrigley tried to get a word with the hero, who declined to talk because, of course, work was being done.