On
Sunday, August 27, 2006, a 35 year old woman, Charlene de Herrera was
rescued from flash floods in Colorado and the incident was caught on
tape. Pueblo city in Colorado faced a severe thunderstorm with hail
and winds blowing 60 to 80 mile per hour. The storm pored three
inches of rain within two hours. The drainage systems failed and
caused flooding of drains. There was an underpass on Pueblo street
which was flooded like a lake.
Charlene
was returning home from her workplace at Wendy's (a fast food
restaurant) in her red SUV when she was trapped in the flood waters
on Pueblo street. The floodwater carried the SUV down the road in 10
feet of water. She freaked out and panicked to such an extend that
she could not even get off from her seat. She was trapped inside the
vehicle with all four windows closed and did not knew swimming. Dr.
Rocky Khosla, who was stopped by the high waters was the first to
swim out to help her in the dangerously rising waters. He picked up a
stick from the muddy water ans started beating the window furiously
but could not break the windshield or windows. Terrified bystanders
witnessing the horrific scene dialed 911, as her car slipped into
the abyss.
A
few daring men tried to help Charlene but their endeavors were
futile. In a desperate attempt to save her, Howard Absetz, a
43-year-old unemployed store manager somehow managed to reach her
through the front window of the SUV which was almost fully submerged.
Absetz said that he was socked to feel her grasp his hand. He became
confident that he could save her after she grasped his hand the
second time even more firmly. He grabbed her around the back of the
neck and hair was able to pull her out of the water through the
window of the driver's door. She came out of her driving seat to the
surface and was rescued from the submerged SUV. Paramedics and
firefighters arrive on the spot and extend a ladder for Charlene and
her rescuers to move out of the water.
The
strange part of the story is that Charlene was driving the SUV with
all four windows up. The windows were still up when she was trapped
in the flood, and even when the vehicle was being pulled out from the
water. It is still a mystery to those involved in the rescue
operation and many others as to how the rescuer reached Charlene and
grasped her hand when all windows of the SUV were up! When the SUV
was towed out of the water, all four windows were intact and still
closed. All the doors were also closed. It is still unclear how
Charlene managed to escape. Neither Charlene nor her rescuer Absetz,
has an explanation to the mysterious events that happened on that
fateful day.
Episode
#72 of Mythbusters focused on getting out of an underwater car. They
discovered that you cannot break a window submerged only in 2 feet of
water without a window breaking hammer. The window cannot be rolled
down under water. You cannot roll the window down under water. The
pressure of the window glass against the frame is so high that the
gear is practically immoveable and power windows also cannot overcome
the pressure differential. The doors can be opened only after the
vehicle is fully filled with water.
Some
believe it to be a divine intervention while others believe it to be
something supernatural. Charlene may have had angels on her side.
There was something which cannot be explained.
Watch
the actual video of Charlene de Herrera miraculously rescued from SUV
on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da5iVUZzpPo
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