SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- A deputy broke open a window and pulled a woman out of her car moments before it was submerged by rising floodwaters near Point Reyes, body camera video released by the Marin County Sheriff's Office shows.
The incredible rescue happened at 5 a.m. Tuesday during the brunt of a powerful atmospheric river rainstorm. (Watch the deputy's body camera video in the video player above).
The woman was driving through a downpour on Platform Ridge Road before dawn. A large puddle of water on the road caused her to lose control and crash into a flooded creek, MCSO said.
"The vehicle became inoperable, including the door locks and windows," MCSO wrote. While the victim was trapped inside and called 911, floodwaters continued rising around it.
Marin County Sheriff's deputy Mike Dawson was the first on scene. He immediately rushed toward the vehicle, waded into the rushing creek, and shouted, "Can you hear me? Hello! Are you in there?"
"Recognizing the severity of the incident, (Dawson) jumped into the water. The driver’s compartment was quickly filling with water," MCSO wrote.
The quick-thinking deputy used his baton to shatter the vehicle's back window, creating an escape path for the women.
"Can you crawl out? How much air do you have above you? I'm going to get you some air," Dawson said. The deputy pulled boxes out of the car's backseat to clear a pathway for escaping.
"I'm right here. It's cold I know. I'm Mike," the deputy says, trying to keep the woman calm in the middle of a life-threatening emergency.
Once the woman reached the broken window by crawling, Dawson pulled her out. "You're doing good. I got ya. I'm holding onto you. Keep going," the deputy says.
Dawson helped the victim stagger through floodwaters to safety minutes before her car was submerged in the creek, MCSO said. "Thanks to the actions of the deputy, the driver survived," the sheriff's office wrote.
The water rescue happened on February 4. Thirteen inches of rain fell over the area between January 30-February 4, the National Weather Service said.
After the woman narrowly escaped from the creek, public works crews placed road closure signs warning drivers to turn around. However, "additional vehicles became stuck after drivers ignored the posted signs," MCSO wrote.
Two people were killed in Santa Rosa during this week's storms. A body was pulled from floodwaters in Santa Rosa near Hall Road Thursday. Firefighters called it a “storm-related tragedy." On Wednesday, Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputies found a deceased man inside a flooded culvert along Franz Valley Road.
Another atmospheric river system arrived in the Bay Area Thursday. A flood watch is currently in effect for Sonoma and Marin counties.
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