Santa Cruz firefighters and police rescued a driver from a vehicle that got stuck in rising floodwaters early Thursday morning.
The Santa Cruz fire and police departments got the call for help just before 6 a.m. and arrived on Brookwood Drive near Dominican Hospital to find a vehicle that had been pushed 180 degrees around by the floodwaters overflowing from Arana Creek.
The man in the car was trapped in waist-deep water when the emergency crew arrived. A rescue swimmer from the fire department suited up and waded out to the floating car. The occupant was rescued and uninjured.
“We’ve had some pretty consistent rainfall over the last five to seven days, and so all that rainfall is coming down out of the mountains and collecting, and those small creeks and rivers start to swell and rise,” Santa Cruz Fire Chief Rob Oatey told Lookout. “This was no different.”
Oatey said Brookwood Drive has experienced floods of this sort in the past, and urged drivers to avoid the area altogether and turn around if they encounter a flood.
“We always caution people to never try and cross an unknown body of water or any sort of swollen river like that, especially during a storm season like the one we’re having now.”
Only 6 inches of fast-moving flood water can knock over an adult, while only a foot of rushing water can carry away most cars, according to a Facebook post from the fire department.
Oatey notes that drivers typically underestimate floodwater levels and should “respect Mother Nature and heed all advisories and warnings.”
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