MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A young woman was rescued from a sinking car by firefighters after flood waters carried her off the road in Macomb Township.
It happened late Friday near 24 Mile Road and North Avenue just before 11 p.m.
“I honesty thought I was going to drown,” the driver Allison Adams said. “I wasn't sure if people were going to get there in time or if anyone would be able to pull me out.”
The 20-year-old was driving down 24 Mile approaching the Clinton River which, unknown to her, had flooded into the roadway. Adams says she hit the water at 50 miles per hour.
“It hydroplaned,” Adams said. “My brakes locked on me. I had no control of my steering wheel.”
Suddenly, Adams found her car in a ditch as water seeped into her car. She was nearly swept into the river.
“I tried to open my door, but the water was so heavy it just kept flowing in,” Adams said.
“It just took the car. She didn't have any control over it,” Macomb Township Fire Department Chief Bob Phillips said. “It took it right into the ditch and up against the brush and the trees — that stopped her from going any further into the river.”
Phillips says once Adams' 911 call came in, firefighters arrived quickly. They put on wetsuits and went into the water, helping Adams climb out her window and crawl across a 24-foot ladder to safety.
“They were holding on to my arms making sure I wasn’t falling off the ladder, holding the ladder up so I wasn’t getting wet. They were walking me through the whole thing," Adams said. “They never left my side. I always had someone there.”
Despite the damage, Adams is OK. She’s thankful to the stranger who stopped, her mother and boyfriend who came to the scene and all the first responders who kept her calm and safe.
“I’m very grateful for them, very thankful that I’m OK,” Adams said.
“I’m proud of the guys who respond. They do a great job every day,” Phillips said. “They proved it again Friday night. When someone needed help, they were there.”
