An SMU graduate student was the area’s single fatality from this weekend’s flash flooding. Twenty-three-year-old Xin Du was killed when she was swept away by high waters in Turtle Creek on Sunday.

She was a passenger in a vehicle when the car stalled due to rising water. According to witnesses, Du and the driver exited the vehicle but lost their balance in the rushing water. The two clung to the nearest tree, waiting for help to arrive – but Du lost grip and was swept away. A few hours later, Dallas Fire Department officials recovered her body downstream from the car.

Du arrived at SMU this January from Shanghai, China to obtain her Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology.

Du’s teachers were stunned when they discovered the news Monday afternoon.

“I’m totally out of words, my stomach hurts and I can’t comprehend what’s happened,” said Du’s lab professor Pia Vogel, assistant professor of biochemistry.

“Everyone is kind of in a shock,” said biology department chair Larry Ruben.

He described Du as extremely bright, saying she had a “spectacular intellect.”

“She was just getting into her course work and going through different rotations-she was very curious about the research,” Vogel said.

Du was part of a new biology program offered by SMU and was working on an analysis of protein structures in her labs.

Ruben also mentioned that Du was embracing the changes and challenges around her.

“It seemed like she was enjoying everything as a grand adventure — meeting new people and experiencing being a Texan,” Ruben said.

Vogel added that Du was a “courageous woman to leave China.”

Jim Caswell, vice president of student affairs, said the situation was a “terrible human tragedy” and that the university has notified Du’s parents. They are en route from China will arrive in Dallas sometime Tuesday or Wednesday.

The SMU Office of the Chaplain has yet to announce a memorial service for students and faculty to attend.

The national weather service reported that 7.89 inches of rain fell at nearby Dallas Love Field over the weekend.

The ground was unable to absorb the heavy rains due to the ongoing drought, which caused the massive flooding throughout the area. Dallas/Fort Worth is still one foot behind in rainfall amounts for the past 12-month period.