Mom and Daughter Saved in Dramatic Rescue After Sinkhole Swallows 2 Cars in Storm-Battered California

Abigail Adams
·3 min read
Mom and Daughter Saved in Dramatic Rescue After Sinkhole Swallows 2 Cars in Storm-Battered California

Firefighters in California made a dramatic rescue on Monday after two cars were swallowed by a sinkhole amid the state's ongoing wet weather.

Officials responded to the scene on Iverson Road in Chatsworth just before 7:30 p.m. on Monday, where they found one vehicle sitting on top of the other inside the hole, according to a news release from the Los Angeles City Fire Department.

Two people in one car managed to pry themselves out of their vehicle, Insider reported.

By the time first responders arrived, though, two individuals were found in the other one, which was located at the bottom of the pile, the LAFD said.

The survivors were a mother and daughter, according to CW affiliate KTLA and ABC affiliate KGTV.

In an aerial view, a car and a pickup truck are seen inside a sinkhole as another storm created by a series of atmospheric rivers inundates California on January 10, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Two vehicles containing four people fell into the sinkhole which had opened up under the road they were driving on during heavy rainfall in the the suburban Los Angeles neighborhood of Chatsworth. Two people were able to climb out before the hole grew larger, further consuming the vehicles. People from the other vehicle were rescued by about 50 firefighters using a high-angle rope and an aerial ladder to lower a firefighter into the hole and raise a young girl and a woman to the surface. Victims were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Powerful storms have pounded much of the West Coast since the beginning of the new year, a striking contrast to the past three years of severe to extreme drought experienced by most of the state. The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which supplies water for millions of Californians, is now above average to date. Last winter, a fraction of average snowfall in the Sierras left the high mountain range virtually devoid of the usual summer snow patches. Though damaging yet not enough to make up for years of drought, the heavy precipitation brings a level of relief from an anticipated fourth year of drought in 2023.

David McNew/Getty

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Rescuers had little time to act as the road continued to collapse into the sinkhole. Upon realizing the entire road was "compromised," crews attempted "an immediate rescue" to save the motorists' lives, the LAFD said.

California sinkhole
California sinkhole

Los Angeles Fire Department

First, crews attempted to lay ground ladders across the hole in hopes it would allow crews to reach the survivors, but were unsuccessful, according to the fire department.

Crews then opted for a different tool — an aerial ladder — which allowed rescuers to properly position themselves over the hole.

A firefighter was lowered down to the victims, who were then placed in a harness and "raised back up to the surface."

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Footage from the scene, captured by KTLA, shows the victims being hoisted out of the hole while holding onto the rescuer who ventured out to save them.

"Because of the instability of the road, we couldn't do anything over the side of the sinkhole," an LAFD representative told Insider. "Our helicopters were grounded due to weather, so there were no aerial options."

California sinkhole
California sinkhole

Los Angeles Fire Department

The mother and daughter were transported to a local hospital with minor injuries, per the fire department.

"Crews executed this operation smoothly," the LAFD said in its news release.

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California has been drenched with rain over the last two weeks amid what the National Weather Service (NWS) calls an "unrelenting series of atmospheric river events."

California sinkhole
California sinkhole

Los Angeles Fire Department

At least 17 people have died as a result of the extreme weather conditions, which are expected to continue through the weekend, according to USA Today and NBC News.

The National Weather Service has warned of "an enormous cyclone" off the West Coast, which forecasters expect will "bring the next round of heavy precipitation and gusty winds" to California and other portions of the Pacific Northwest in the next few days.

"We expect these storms to continue at least through the 18th of this month,'' California governor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday, per USA Today. "The magnitude of this is not isolated in smaller communities. It is scaled across the largest state in our union."