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GREENSBORO — A woman attempting to avoid a state trooper drowned Wednesday night after apparently jumping into a rain-swollen creek near Northeast Middle School, officials said.

As a thunderstorm pounded the area, a trooper was stopping traffic in the 6700 block of McLeansville Road to keep vehicles off the flooded road.

About 7 p.m., a woman zoomed past the trooper on a moped, lost control and went into the creek, said Col. Randy Powers of the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office.

The trooper, who has not been identified, retrieved a rope from his vehicle and pulled the woman out of the water.

As he was interviewing her, the trooper suspected the woman had been consuming alcohol, Powers said.

He went to retrieve something from his vehicle, and the woman jumped into the creek a second time.

“The trooper attempted to rescue her again, but she was gone,” Powers said.

About 8:30 p.m., the woman’s body was recovered about 300 yards from where she jumped into the creek, authorities said. Her identity was not available late Wednesday.

Officer-involved fatalities are typically handled by the SBI, but the sheriff’s office took over the probe because state investigators were not available, Powers said.

Other than the one fatality, both the sheriff’s office and the Greensboro Police Department reported no serious injuries caused by the heavy rains that slammed the city throughout the evening.

Lightning during the storm caused an estimated $6,000 in damages to a home at 1811 Carmel Road about 6:50 p.m.

Downtown was hit particularly hard during the storm, with 4.5 inches of rain falling from 6 to 8 p.m., said Phil Badgett of the National Weather Service in Raleigh. In contrast, Piedmont Triad International Airport recorded only about an inch of rain.

“We had another storm that formed just past the Yadkin River, and when those two storms merged together, it merged with the one that was sitting over downtown Greensboro,” said Scott Sharp of the National Weather Service.

“The one storm was moving a little slower than the other, and when they merged, it created an intense rainfall,” Sharp said. He compared the two storms to a traffic collision in which one car rear-ends another.

Assistant Chief David Douglas of the fire department said the agency responded to 115 calls from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thirty of those calls involved vehicles stranded in water and believed to be occupied.

About 6:30 p.m., several cars were stuck at the intersection of East Bessemer Avenue and Huffman Street.

Another car became trapped in floodwaters downtown at East Lindsay and North Eugene streets near NewBridge Bank Park.

“Unfortunately, people only know one way home, and when they see standing water, they think they can drive through it,” Douglas said. “You never know how deep it is, and that puts people at risk.”

The rain flooded several roads, including U.S. 29 North near East Market Street, West Market at Friendly Avenue, and East Wendover Avenue near Elwell Street.

On English Street near Apache Street, the front of a 16-passenger van fell into a 4-foot sinkhole that opened up during the flooding. The two passengers escaped unharmed. The sinkhole appeared in a spot where city crews had recently repaired a water main break, said Greensboro spokesman Jim Collins. The temporary road patch opened up during the flooding.

Traffic lights were reported out in many parts of the city, and 5,633 homes were without power countywide as of 11 p.m.

As of 5:18 a.m. Thursday, 262 homes were without power in Guilford.

The Melvin Municipal Office Building, headquarters for the city’s administrative offices and the police department, reported flooding.

Other flooding reports came from the Otto Zenke building, headquarters for the sheriff’s office, and from Wafco Mills.

Flooding was also reported at UNCG, and parents with children at the Child Care Education Program were told the facility wouldn’t open this morning until flood cleanup is completed.

The full extent of the damage citywide won’t be known until today, officials said.

Douglas, of the fire department, said it was some of the worst flooding he had ever seen.

“I’m a lifelong resident of Greensboro, and ... I’ve seen places flood tonight that I have never seen flood before,” Douglas said.

NWS meteorologists said Greensboro likely would see more rain today, with forecasters predicting about 1 inch to 1½ inches locally. Some spots could see up to 3 inches.

Staff writers Gerald Witt and Janet Brindle Reddick contributed to this report.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com