Deputy Gets Swept Away by Flood Waters While Attempting a Rescue in Pensacola
A deputy who was attempting a water rescue in Pensacola, Florida, got swept away by flood waters and was submerged for 30 seconds, on Friday, June 16, footage by the local sheriff’s office shows.
Deputy William Hollingsworth with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) was attempting to rescue a man who was caught up in flood waters in the early hours of Friday, Sheriff Chip Simmons said. When the deputy approached the man, they both got swept away by flood waters and were submerged, surfacing around 100 feet down the street, according to the sheriff.
This footage from Deputy Hollingsworth’s body worn camera shows the incident, including the almost 30 seconds he spent underwater.
Pensacola was hit by a slew of thunderstorms that dumped over 12 inches of rain overnight on Friday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). On Friday morning, the weather service announced a flash flood emergency was ongoing in Pensacola, which it described as “exceedingly rare situations when a severe threat to human life & catastrophic damage from a flash flood is happening.” Credit: Escambia County Sheriff’s Office via Storyful
Video Transcript
CHIP SIMMONS: Hi, I'm Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons. Over the past few days, Escambia County has experienced severe weather and torrential downpours, peaking in the early morning hours of June the 16th. During those hours, Escambia County Deputy William Hollingsworth was on patrol and helping stranded motorists caught in the rapidly rising waters.
At one point, Deputy Hollingsworth exited his patrol car to approach a citizen who was trapped in these rising waters. As he approached, Deputy Hollingsworth witnessed the citizen go underwater and rushed to his aid without regard to his own safety. During the rescue attempt, both the citizen and Deputy Hollingsworth were sucked into the drainage pipe and were swept underneath the four-lane roadway of Highway 98.
They were submerged for approximately 30 seconds and traveled nearly 100 feet underwater. They eventually resurfaced on the other end of the roadway, lucky to be alive. The footage you're about to see is from Deputy Hollingsworth's body camera. It shows the dramatic events from this morning and is an example of the exceptional courage displayed by the men and women of law enforcement every day.
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: 30-37.
- 30-37.
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: I'll be out with several disabled vehicles here in front of Sherwin-Williams on 98.
- 10-4.
[THUNDERING]
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: 380, advise you to get out of there before you flood, sir. Oh [MUTED]
[RUSHING WATER]
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: Help me. Mmph. Oh. Help him. Help get him, help get him away. Oh, man, I got you. Thank God I've got you. Oh, Jesus. Yeah. [MUTED]. Oh, Jesus, buddy. Hey, David. Your name David?
David, can you [MUTED] believe what just happened to us? You OK, buddy? Can you believe what [MUTED] happened to us? Oh, just breathe. Just breathe, man. Oh my God. Oh, baby Jesus. Thank God.
- Saved your life.
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: Oh, Jesus, thank you.
- I don't understand.
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: Oh, [MUTED] he got you, buddy.
- Suck me in. Help me. [MUTED].
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: Oh my God.
- You held your breath?
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: I did. I never held my breath like that in my life.
- Me neither.
- Oh, I'm not coming to the home.
- God. Oh, might of God, made me come through, my life will not end. Yeah, I was saved. I was saved, you know who I'm probably out of His goodness.
- How did that happen?
- Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: 30-37
- I'm alive.
- He made time for--
- Lord Jesus come down.
- I think he ended up with all our patients.
- All of my stuff. I might, man.
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: No, I don't want to get sucked down again. We're staying put.
- Well, OK.
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: I fought it for a second.
- Well, I mean--
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: I saw you go down and I went up here.
- Yeah.
- So we never hold on. I thought I held on. We got your neck, and the loss.
- But they're coming out on, 10-4.
- Hold on, man. I've got to see you. Let's hold on to them, though.
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: Yeah.
- I got you now.
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: He was over there and I was having him come across. And he goes down. I go in after him, I got sucked in [MUTED] drainpipe right by that marker. And I went all the way underneath highway 98, got spit out.
- Yeah.
- You were lucky. If it had happened to him, too.
- I'm glad you did. Thank you, man, for like being there when I come out.
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: I feel awful. I told you to come to me.
- I found you like natural. When I came out, you were right behind me, that shows like, believe me, I'm going to--
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: Y'all just sit tight right here. Safe, stay in the car.
- Yeah, I mean--
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: I still got the angles coming to check you out, OK?
- Oh, man.
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: You can tell them you don't need them. But they're still coming.
- No, it was me and you, man.
WILLIAM HOLLINGSWORTH: All right.
- The action experience for life and I appreciate you, brother.
