Season 1, Episode 24: Our Streets Are Rivers!

[00:00:00]today on hearts of Heroes a quiet suburban street becomes a virtual River leaving one family scrambling to escape the rising tide my best friend is paralyzed she's on a third floor I wouldn't leave without her plus caught in a flash flood a man's Jeep becomes a floating raft wasn't until my car we started a town I'm like yeah this could be a real problem so he put out a social media distress call to anybody who would listen not sure if I could swim this up would be nice it's times like these when we need a hero to help save the day the city of Dearborn Heights Michigan was settled on the Rogue River by French farmers in the 18th century and while the area's network of waterways have always played an important role in the survival of the city they can also put people's lives in peril that's what happened in 2019 as one family watched their quiet neighborhood Street turn into a raging river Dearborn Heights is a suburb of Detroit it's just 15 miles from the Motor City and with a population of just under 60,000 people it offers a more peaceful alternative to living in that large city it is very homey citizens know each other a lot of parks water parks outside stuff to do our doors are always open we love our citizens and they love us and it's that laid-back lifestyle that attracted recent transplant Danny Cummings neighbors are very nice obviously the neighborhood is nice just quiet and simple peaceful less than a year ago Danny moved to Dearborn Heights with her cousin Martel who both work and care for disabled housemate and while Dearborn posts a calmer way of life it does share one thing with nearby Detroit too volatile weather Michigan weather is like you can see us bipolar which it really is it's up and down our spring summers can be wet and cold storms can pop up out of nowhere we were surrounded by water but the four seasons we get the worse than the best of them and Danny and Martin saw the worst of it when a major flood swallowed their neighborhood in May of 2019 me and my cousin we just got off of work it was raining so hard he was driving I was sleep like oh my god I'm sorry never thought twice about it by the time they got home it was past 11 p.m. so they both just headed to bed but the rain would not let up then they heard a knocking at the front door and I looked on the camera and it was the neighbors and all I heard her say is well I'm trying to warn them what the neighbor was trying to tell them was that the street was beginning to flood having just moved to Dearborn Heights Martell and Danny had no idea that their home sat right on the edge of each Horse Creek the system's decided to handle about two inches of rain and unfortunately when we get more than that we see the flooding unaware of just how fast the water was rising Martell and Danny tried to go back to sleep I heard like this rain showers like in the house it was like someone was taking a shower in the basement so I went down and I couldn't even get on the last down light the basement is flooded Martell went upstairs immediately to tell Danny about the flooding then it started to get serious because he smelled smoke from the furnace so someone called the fire department the Dubois Fire Department the calls just came in one after another especially since on top of the obvious that it was raining a lot of people were in panic you got to remember some people had never gone through the floods before so they didn't know what to do we just started responding on trapped citizens systematically going door-to-door if they had smoke in the basement we were securing utilities pulling meters shutting gas off to the house man todos they've been get to a certain level we have call them back Amelie that's why we have to evacuate because it was gonna get past our sick of breaking box and they can buy the explode or electrocute flood water can cause any number of threats to a person's health and safety anything from contaminated water to the threat of fire electrocution if the water comes in contact with live wires or circuit breakers there was a freeway that was impassable that had 15 foot of standing water just even where the Creek would normally be there was just you know debris of trees and garbage and just stuff backing up now the cousins had two very real dangers to consider first Danny was six months pregnant and the contaminated water posed a serious threat to her unborn baby and also they have a disabled housemate who would not be able to evacuate the house on her own my best friend is paralyzed she's on a third floor I wouldn't leave without her we need to be rescued from this house the water is rising coming up facing the possibility of being trapped Danny and Martel make some bold decisions we call the mayor the Councilwoman and we like news channels everything and we're trapped in this house we have someone who say we have a pregnant woman they're like we got to get out but first a safety tip did you know that densely populated areas like cities can actually be at high risk of flash flooding that's right Sheldon the construction of buildings highways and parking lots may increase runoff by reducing the grounds ability to absorb water and can in turn increase your risk of danger these floods can happen suddenly so increase your odds of survival by knowing the warning signs and having a preparedness in May of 2019 Southeast Michigan was coming off one of its wettest April's on record one storm on May first dropped only a few inches of rain but that pushed rivers and creeks over the edge flooding a good part of Dearborn Heights oh my goodness the water is rising we need help now cousin Danny Cummings and Martel Owens had to figure out a way to escape the flood while also caring for a paralyzed house me what a horrible feeling that is and to be physically unable to exit your own house it was terrible right 3:00 a.m. their entire home was engulfed by floodwater they tried to call 9-1-1 but first responders were tied up they were helping hundreds of other people that were also in the floods kind of have to prioritize if there's a fire you go to the fire if there's somebody in a house that's on fire in that situation they Trump everything life safety somebody's having chest pain in a flooded house you bypass the house that somebody's just stranded in so Danny and Martel put the word out to anybody who could help we caught the mayor the Councilwoman and we like news channels everything we're trapped in this house we have someone to say we have a pregnant woman here like we got to get up Danny decided to livestream on social media in the hopes that somebody would be watching and find a solution to get them out please please please anyone who's watching this please and how we are trapped on the third floor of our home the water is rising I'm pregnant and our house maid is disabled please didn't help now this is an emergency please stand help actually went live so everyone can see like hey guys this is not just like a little flood like we're like literally trapped on the third floor we can't go to our main we can't go to the kitchen it can't go downstairs for anything preparation for potential disasters often the key to minimize in any personal danger or property damage but in the case of Martell and Danny they had no idea they lived in a flood zone so there wasn't a lot they could do except hope the first responders could get there quickly I didn't really know what to do like what's a expect opposed to someone who probably like lived in the area and they've been coached on him how do you evaluate what to have you know just in case of emergency and things like that anything that happens to you finally by noon the following day first responders were able to make contact with Danny and Martell when they said okay we're coming with a boat and everything I was like yes yes when the fire department arrived they strapped Danny and Martel's disabled housemate onto a specially designed board after getting her into the boat the two cousins hopped on board too but they were not completely out of danger yet they were like okay guys don't rock the boat sis they sit in the middle don't rock the boat or he's gonna tip over we are gonna being awarded the boat eventually left them off a mile from their home and out of the flood and then once we got like to dry land I was just like oh my gosh but rescuing trapped people was only part of how these first responders helped out during that storm we try to help people through not just the event itself but but the cleanup afterwards and that's that's the real challenge if flood happened on a I think Wednesday Thursday morning is when it was really bad and by Saturday we had already had special garbage pickup so we started setting that up right away and and and by that weekend most people had all of the damaged stuff from the flood already hauled away and these heroes definitely went above and beyond we had a lot of firefighters came in off-duty a lot of police officers came in off-duty and a lot of our DPW workers came in off-duty there's such a blessing so the whole community especially to us for coming right away getting us out there really are heroes I really appreciate them and respect them for that although many people's homes were destroyed there was still good to be taken from this devastating event one thing I've learned is what a great community with them we're so fortunate to work at the city of Dearborn Heights our neighbors come out they look after each other and you realize what a great community this is to work for and how they all stick together and come together coming up stepped on the roof of his vehicle one man pleads for help in a flash flood at that time I rolled down my window I crawled on top of my Jeep I'm not sure but I could swim this someone can come help save me as the name suggests flash floods can strike well in a flash it's what makes these natural disasters so frightening you can get one two three inch per hour rainfall rates that instantly flood roads and when they hit anyone caught in these rapidly rising waters can find themselves at the mercy of Mother Nature the township of Pine Grove Pennsylvania is located in Schuylkill County it's about a hundred miles from Philadelphia with a population of just over two thousand people it definitely has the feel of a sleepy little town it's a close-knit community everybody kind of knows everybody you know loyal areas farmland a lot of people you know born and raised - and they stay here and they open up shop here they open up restaurants here the town is so small in fact that they don't even have a full-time fire department everyone on their fire and rescue team are volunteers we do it because it's what's in our hearts and it's hearts in our blood and I can't stress that enough but it's a brotherhood a good group of guys you like to joke around and have fun but you know when if Adrian was off it's time to get seriously many people may not realize it but 55% of all firefighters across the country are volunteers they do it out of a sense of commitment to their communities and it can also lead to a permanent career as a firefighter and while Pine Grove Volunteer Fire Department does take their job very seriously not all of their rescues are necessarily five-alarm emergencies we've been on bear rescues just last month I think we were called out the rescue of peacock again when the pager goes off you just never know but being located on the spot our River means that they do deal with some potential dangerous situations mostly in the form of flash floods flash floods are just what the name sets floods that happen in a flash they can be caused by slow-moving thunderstorms hurricanes or meltwater from snow or ice pack flash floods differ from regular floods because their time skill is less than six hours between when the rain falls and the onset of flooding and in the past few years Pine Grove has seen its fair share of flooding kaya Cleary has lived in town for almost 10 years I've had cars that got picked up turned sideways and into the side of my house it's a very humbling experience to the witness something like that and in the summer of 2018 Pine Grove was hit by not one but two major floods on the morning of July 23rd Zachary Reichert was on his way to work at Fort Indiantown military base what happened was that day with the flash floods they actually took out the underpass and I had to go an alternate route which led to the flash flood being a lifelong resident Zachary did pay attention to the weather reports but nothing sounded too out of the ordinary that day it was a steady downpour I did get weather loads but nothing about flash floods and I mean I never even paid attention that before a flash flood Zachary took a detour through a neighborhood but what he didn't realize the Swatara River had overflowed drowning the streets Zachary could see the street was flooding but he thought that he could make it through without much trouble the water wasn't that high particularly when I was driving at my tires people can often get a false sense of security when they are in large trucks or vehicles designed for rough terrain but in this case Zachary underestimated the sheer power of the rising water which we should never do Zachary's car stalled out thanks to the floodwater then to his disbelief the car in front of him was being swept down the street it was part of Noah it looks like he just like took off and started floating low starting to float coming up with no sign of the flood letting up Zachary finds himself adrift on his own was until my car we started a town I'm like yeah this could be a real problem but first a safety tip safeguarding your home or property now may help protect you from water and flood damage in the long run clearing drains and gutters installing check valves and even adding a sump pump with a battery or some helpful preventative steps you can take it's these small things that you may not think of that can help you prepare for the worse on the morning of July 23rd 2018 Zachary Reichert found himself in the middle of a street rapidly filling with water current situation in Pine Grove someone who come help save me he knew he didn't have long and needed help immediately I called 911 right away I said hey listen like my Jeep shut down I I don't know what to do they're like hang tight we'll send help Kyle Cleary saw that Zachary was in a very precarious situation I came out of my front porch I noticed a gentleman he was stopped in standing water and I I tried to offer him hey you know do you want me to come out and Gabe at a time like no this is gonna pass but the flooding did not pass in fact it got much worse and then within 10-15 minutes the water actually started coming in through the doors there goes my Jeep Zachary climbed on top of his vehicle waiting for help but then his car started moving in the water my car starting to rotate now there goes my car wasn't until my car we started a town I'm like yeah this could be a real problem not sure if I could swim this I'm just like I don't know what to do I'm not a great swimmer and I can't tread water like that's my biggest fear and I don't know what's in these waters is there down electrical line is there snakes and that was my point like what do I do Zachary probably made a very wise decision to stay on top of his vehicle there are a number of serious hazards and floodwaters and if you slip there's a real possibility of being swept away or injured by debris churning in the water with no other options all Zachary could do was hold on and hope for a rescue at that point he decided to livestream his ordeal on social media I did call 9-1-1 right now back at his house Zachary's wife Courtney was awakened with some frightening news his mom told me Zach is in a flood right now and I was so confused because he should have been at work long before and I saw him streaming live I was just driving out of nowhere where he's got real hi Courtney immediately called Zachary she's like do not junk just absolutely whatever you do promise you you will not jump into those borders I was very frantic at the time worried for his safety looking back and forth it was like a panic I will is help gonna come so I need to get down is it that you know what if I do jump with the current growing stronger Zachary's cars started to rotate again and that was like when I started the panic two minutes ago I faced in that way now my car did at 180 I'm facing this way like me there's someone needs help I need to get down because it with so much drifting it's gonna take my Jeep like a raft fortunately at that moment help arrived in the form of the Pine Grove volunteer fire department and I just jumped on their bio track they like get in and then it was just like I wasn't the only one and there was essentially said the same thing it just happened out of nowhere Zachary was lucky that day the only thing he lost was his car but he gained a strong respect for the weather and the men that came to rescue him it made me actually appreciate first responders volunteer firefighters volunteers so much more who just go out there you know missing work you know missing meals missing time with their family to give back to their community side I think that really opened up to my eyes what we have and I don't want to cry but I feel like I'm probably gonna and as a member of the military Zachary wanted to personally thank the men who like himself put their lives on the line to save each other so cars I don't know if you guys remember me but I remember you guys from saving me thank you not just for that day but what you guys do it was a very emotional day for me it still is emotional I can't thank you guys for enough what you guys do that day and that's the amazing point you guys just kept on going back out for people and just said you know we gotta say people and that that's that's heroic that is truly heroic it's emotional and you guys didn't think twice out of it I remember that day which is I gotta go get more people we train for that stuff and we wish to leave our car so thank you guys very much again I greatly appreciate it we've seen how powerful the flow of a flash-flood can be fortunately we've also seen how teams of brave and well trained first responders will always be there to come to the rescue and a lesson I hope everyone takes away when a flash flood warning is issued don't drive if you're already driving and you come upon the water in the road even if it looks shallow don't go into it turn around don't drown I'm ginger Zee we'll see you next time you