https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTUueuwQO1I
A frightening storm system has been making its way through California, leaving damage all across the state and providing some harrowing situations caught on camera. The most recent occurred late on Friday when a sinkhole opened near Studio City in Los Angeles, swallowing two vehicles and a very frightened woman in the process.
As you can see in the video above, firefighters worked to rescue the woman after her car fell into the hole. Rushing water and a teetering vehicle helped add to the urgency of the situation that luckily had a happy ending according to the LA Times:
Firefighters lowered a 20-foot ladder to her, allowing her to climb out, and took her to a hospital in fair condition. En route, she said that while she was driving, she felt the car pitch to the left, then it tumbled into the sinkhole. The airbags deployed, water started coming in, and she tried to raise the windows. She was able to open the door and climb on top of the car, where she screamed for help.
She said she thought she was going to die. Then she heard the firefighters yell back to her.
The driver of the second vehicle was able to escape uninjured before it fell. Both vehicles are expected to be removed Saturday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmPKbVKbZqU
Reuters reports that meteorologists were expecting at least 10 inches of rain in Southern California, with 2 feet of snow expected in the higher elevations to the east. The storm itself has left two dead, with thousands of other residents affected by evacuation orders and power outages throughout the neighboring areas:
One man died after he was electrocuted by a downed wire, the Los Angeles Fire Department said, adding that it had responded to 150 reports of downed wires on Friday. Another person was found dead in a submerged vehicle in Victorville, about 100 miles east of Los Angeles, fire officials said on Twitter.
Local television news also showed video footage of a San Bernardino County fire truck tumbling over the side of a freeway as the road gave out.
“All firefighters confirmed safe. The lane under the fire engine has failed, and the engine has gone over the side,” the San Bernardino County Fire Department said on Twitter.
INCREDIBLE VIDEO: part of SB I-15 is washed away; fire engine tumbles off the side; fortunately no one hurt pic.twitter.com/5VMzQEBlqa
— Rob McMillan (@abc7robmcmillan) February 18, 2017
The storms have brought California its largest rainfall in six years and have helped ease the drought that has plagued the state for years. The rainfall is also causing numerous problems around the state, including the situation with the Oroville Dam that made headlines earlier in the week.