3 rescued after SUV swept off roadway by flash floodwaters
By: -----
Ripley County, IN - A vehicle with three people inside was swept off a roadway by flash floodwaters in Ripley County, Indiana, sending the occupants floating about half a mile downstream as they held on and called for help.
Rescue divers arrived at the scene and used safety lines to extract the victims from the vehicle. One at a time, they were outfitted with safety gear and guided to the edge of the fast-running creek.
The decision to drive through the fast-moving floodwaters quickly turned dangerous.
“Obviously, we’ve gotten a lot of rain, the creek is very swollen,” Sgt. Stephen Wheeles of the Indiana State Police said.
Rescue teams located the vehicle stranded on a sandbar and began extracting the occupants. Rescue divers, equipped with safety lines, guided each of the three adults—one of whom is a high school senior—out of the vehicle one at a time.
“Fortunately, the vehicle got stuck on something where it stayed put long enough that officers could get there and make contact with the occupants,” Wheeles said.
The conditions were so severe that even a boat couldn’t be used during the rescue.
“We were able to have those certified divers make contact up close and personal with the occupants and get them out safely and to the shore,” Wheeles said.
All three individuals were rescued safely, shaken but uninjured.
The Ripley County Sheriff’s department said the vehicle remains in the creek about half a mile downstream and will have to wait until the water recedes before it can be retrieved.