Home Care In Rescue, CA

Trapped passengers rescued from flooded car in Santa Barbara

A Good Samaritan pulled a driver and child passenger from a BMW trapped in floodwaters on Thursday in Santa Barbara. After the rescue, the car continued to float away in the high water. (Video credit: Brandon Clement/LSM)

SANTA BARBARA, Ca. – A good Samaritan driver rescued two people Thursday during a flash flooding event in Southern California, pulling a man and a child from a car before it floated away.

Heavy rain continues to cause dangerous driving conditions as rainfall rates of more than an inch per hour have inundated cities with significant flooding, including the Los Angeles area and Santa Barbara.

The National Weather Service issued Flood Watches from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles and San Diego. A Flash Flood Warning was in place for Santa Barbara when the rescue occurred. Heavy rain is expected through Friday morning for San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

Video taken by Live Storm Media's Brandon Clement shows the driver of a truck coming to the aid of another driver when they became stranded by floodwater. A man and a child were pulled from the BMW sedan into a truck. Moments later, waves created by a bus and another truck pushed the BMW further into the floodwater.

EXPLAINING FLOOD ALERTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

It is never safe to drive through floodwaters. Just 6 inches of fast-moving floodwater can knock over an adult, and a foot of rushing water can carry away most cars, according to the NWS.

Despite the well-known warning of "turn around, don't drown," almost half of all flash-flood deaths happen in vehicles, according to FEMA.

Heavy rains floods roads of Santa Barbara, stranding drivers

FOX Weather Correspondent Max Gorden is in Santa Barbara, where road conditions are dangerous after rains fell at 1 inch per hour and have flooded streets, prompting rescues and evacuations.

Caltrans officials said flooding on northbound U.S. Highway 101 prompted a closure on Thursday morning to allow crews to clear drains in the area.

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER

On a side street of Highway 101, drivers continued to travel through flooded roads on Thursday. FOX Weather Correspondent Max Gorden saw several vehicles become victims to the high water and stall out, requiring a tow. The Santa Barbara Fire Department responded after flooding claimed two cars.

The FOX Forecast Center said an additional 1-5 inches of rain is possible through Friday, with up to 5 inches for mountains and foothill areas.

A hiker was trapped beneath a 5-ton boulder on a California cliffside for seven hours last week until a volunteer search team freed him in a daring rescue that ran into the early morning hours.

The unidentified man’s legs became pinned beneath a boulder in an accident while he was hiking the Inyo Mountains on Tuesday afternoon, according to Inyo County Search & Rescue — which was called to respond.

Nine volunteer crew members made their way out to the stranded hiker below the Santa Rita Flat via helicopter and four-wheel drive vehicles, arriving well after dark, the rescue team said.

They found the hiker “in great pain with his left leg pinned beneath a large boulder on a steep hillside.”

They estimated the boulder crushing his leg weighed between 6,000 and 10,000 pounds, Inyo County Search & Rescue said.

The rescue team crafted “a system of ropes, pulleys, and leverage” to shift the giant rock just enough to free the man’s leg. They then assessed his crushed leg and stabilized the injury until medics arrived via helicopter.

“Due to the seriousness of the hiker’s injuries and the difficulty of the terrain, it was decided to extricate the hiker despite the darkness using a helicopter from US Naval Air Station Lemoor,” Inyo County Search & Rescue said.

The helicopter was unable to land due to the hilly terrain so a US Navy medic rappelled down to the injured hiker and both were hoisted up into the aircraft.

The hiker was flown to a hospital in Fresno for treatment after midnight.

The Inyo County Search & Rescue crew members headed out of the mountains and signed off at 4 a.m.

What do you think? Post a comment.

The team said the difficult mission included several challenges along the way including “coordination of multiple agencies and resources; accessing an accident scene in steep, loose rocky terrain; using limited resources to move a large boulder; managing a severely injured patient for several hours while awaiting the helicopter extrication; assisting in a nighttime helicopter hoist; all in chilly December darkness.”

The nonprofit did not provide an update on the hiker’s condition.

Search and rescue volunteers in California carried out a dramatic midnight rescue after a hiker became trapped under a large boulder in the Inyo Mountains, located between Sequoia and Death Valley national parks.

Inyo County Search & Rescue, a volunteer organization that works in tandem with the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office, said it was alerted about the trapped hiker on the afternoon of Dec. 5.

Two rescue volunteers were deployed to an area below the Santa Rita Flat via a helicopter supplied by the California Highway Patrol while seven other rescuers followed in vehicles.

The team “arrived at the hiker’s location well after dark,” and found the hiker “in great pain with his left leg pinned beneath a large boulder on a steep hillside,” according to a Friday Facebook post.

Rescuers estimated that the boulder weighed somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 pounds.

Photos of the rescue showed a very rocky and rugged terrain with numerous large boulders in the area.

With “limited resources” to lift the heavy boulder, rescuers fashioned a system of ropes and pulleys and used leverage to shift the rock enough to free the trapped hiker.

Get the latest National news. Sent to your email, every day.

The hiker suffered serious injuries in the seven hours he was pinned beneath the boulder.

“Due to the seriousness of the hiker’s injuries and the difficulty of the terrain, it was decided to extricate the hiker despite the darkness using a helicopter from US Naval Air Station Lemoore,” rescue officials wrote.

With no suitable place for the helicopter to land, “a US Navy medic rappelled from the helicopter to the scene, and the injured hiker and medic were hoisted into the helicopter and flown to Fresno for treatment after midnight.”

The injured hiker was not identified by name and no update on his condition was given.

Search and rescue officials wrote that they encountered many challenges in their mission to free the hiker, including difficulties accessing the remote and rocky location, coordinating with multiple agencies, and stabilizing the man’s injuries for “several hours while awaiting the helicopter extrication.”

Rescuers worked through these obstacles in “chilly December darkness.”

Many of the comments under the Facebook post made by the Inyo County Search & Rescue sang the praises of the rescue team.

“You all are heroes. Thank you for your service,” one commenter wrote.

“So grateful for the people that voluntarily put their lives on the line to help people in crisis,” another wrote. “You amaze me.”

A California man who became trapped on the side of a cliff for days was finally rescued by first responders after a daring, nearly 24-hour rescue effort.

Rescue crews finally freed the man on Friday morning after he had been trapped in a hole for days near the side of the Sunset Cliffs in San Diego, California, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The rescue effort took about 19 hours, and first responders with the San Diego fire department (SDFD) described the extrication as “treacherous”.

“The location of this rescue [was] very treacherous for rescuers as well as the patient,” the fire department said in an update to social media.

The man reportedly slipped and fell under broken rocks near the side of the cliff, and he later became wedged in a small crevice.

The man was trapped from the waist down in a hole only 18in wide, ABC News reported. The size of the hole was an additional challenge for rescuers, the SDFD added on social media.

The man reportedly told rescuers that he had been trapped under the rocks for at least three days, the local television news station KGTV reported.

On Thursday, a group of teenagers heard the man crying out for help, and they called 911, the Union-Tribune reported.

Rescuers first arrived to the scene at about 4pm Pacific standard time. Authorities with the SDFD and the Chula Vista fire department worked to free the man but had to pause the rescue effort overnight due to rising tides and inclement weather.

The man was given blankets and received fluids intravenously to combat dehydration, the Union-Tribune reported.

But rescuers say that the high tide combined with rain and wind brought up an additional concern: the possibility of the man drowning.

“Drowning was a concern for us last night … Our tides showed us that it wasn’t going to go over his head … But we did know that [water] was filling that bottom cavity cave where his legs were in between,” the San Diego fire-rescue deputy chief of operations, Dan Eddy, said to the Union-Tribune in a post-rescue update.

Using micro-explosives, rescuers were able to break up the heavy rocks and dislodge the man, the Union-Tribune reported.

The man was freed at about 11am on Friday and was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.

He reportedly sustained injuries, but he was awake and alert at the time of the rescue and thanked crews who helped free him.

More than two years ago, a lab mix named October was rescued from Ensenada, Mexico, and found a new home at a California animal rescue.

October waited patiently for his new home, according to a TikTok video posted by the nonprofit rescue The Animal Pad.

He received zero adoption applications in 763 days, the La Mesa rescue said.

Even still, he “hasn’t lost hope,” Lauren Burns with the rescue told People.

“Despite waiting so long for a home and being the most overlooked dog in our rescue, October is still the happiest guy,” Burns told the magazine. “He hasn’t given up, and neither will we.”

Since being posted in early March, the TikTok video featuring October has amassed more than 1.6 million views.

Despite his newly acclaimed internet fame, October is still waiting to be adopted, the rescue said in an April 6 Instagram post on his newly created page.

“I promise to be your best friend if you just give me a chance,” the rescue wrote in an April 2 post.

The 3-year-old pup, who weighs about 60 pounds, is “crate, house, and bathroom trained,” according to his page on the rescue’s website.

October recently completed a training program where he “worked through (his) leash reactivity when seeing other dogs,” the rescue said.

“I would love to find someone who will continue to bring me out on adventures so I can keep up with practicing my manners,” the rescue’s website says.

The “super sweet, goofy” canine also loves to play, according to the rescue.

“My favorites are tennis balls and squeaky toys, as well as lick mats with yogurt or peanut butter,” the website says.

The rescue says October is a fast learner who has the playfulness of a pup and “manners of a grown up pup.”

October would do best in a home where he is the only pet, the rescue said. He would also need continued training so he doesn’t pick up old habits.

His adoption fee, which “includes spaying/neutering, shots and microchip,” costs $200, the rescue said.

To fill out an application to adopt October, visit the rescue’s website.

La Mesa is about 12 miles northeast of San Diego.