Mother, daughter escape rising flood waters in Roseville, MN
ROSEVILLE, Minn. (KMSP) - A Roseville, Minn. mom and her ten-year-old daughter escaped quickly rising flood waters during Tuesday’s storms.
Karen Fuller-Resendiz was driving home on Fairview Avenue, heading under Highway 36, when she says it was raining hard, but she did not see any pooling water. However, conditions quickly changed while she was under the overpass.
Fuller-Resendiz told Fox 9 the water was “just by the tire” at first, but soon was over the tire, and then “by the door handle.” Then, her Nissan Rogue started floating.
“It started bobbing up and down — while we are in it,” Fuller-Resendiz said.
Fuller-Resendiz rolled down the window and got herself, and her daughter, out. She then tried to carry her daughter toward drier land, while trying to keep the ten-year-old’s head above the water.
“It was really tough because the current was going to some degree. It was really windy. The gusts kept coming along with the rain. I slipped a few times,” Fuller-Resendiz told Fox 9.
Fuller-Resendiz and her daughter, Ikeasha, escaped the flash flood. In all, about twenty people — from six different vehicles — escaped the same flash flood, according to the Roseville Fire Department.
“What happened was we had such a large amount of water in such a short amount of time that it cause some localized flooding,” David Brosnahan, assistant fire chief for the Roseville Fire Department, told Fox 9.
Assistant Chief Brosnahan told Fox 9 that Fuller-Resendiz did the right thing by rolling down her window and getting out. However, he suggested climbing on top of the vehicle, rather than walking, to avoid any dangers in the water.
The flash flood call was one of 64 storm calls the Roseville Fire Department responded to during the 90 key minutes of the storm. In the 16 hours following the storm, the department responded to 105 storm calls.