ESCONDIDO — San Diego County fire and emergency personnel rescued a woman on New Year’s Day who was swept into a creek by heavy rainwaters that flowed into Lake Hodges in Escondido.
Deputies with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office San Marcos Station were dispatched at about 8:10 a.m. Thursday to a water emergency after a man reported that he and his wife had entered the lake’s ground at a low-water crossing near the roadway.
About an hour later, the couple returned to the same crossing and found the rains had flooded the area.
“Water on the crossing was now flowing swiftly to the lake. The couple entered the flowing water on foot to get back to their vehicle. Despite walking cautiously, the current swept them both off their feet. The water carried them into a creek that flowed into Lake Hodges,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
After struggling with the current, the male victim reached shore, but his wife continued downstream. The man was able to walk to a nearby residence, where he contacted the Sheriff’s Office for help.
Deputies, personnel from Cal Fire San Diego and local fire agencies responded to the area, and a rescue operation was launched. Shortly afterward, a San Diego Fire-Rescue helicopter located the female victim. She was rescued and taken to a hospital.
The couple has been reunited and is in stable condition, officials said. Their names and ages were not released.
The Sheriff’s office advised the public never to walk, swim, or drive through flooded areas and to use caution when entering areas prone to flooding.
“Just six inches of fast-moving water is enough to put your life at risk. Remember, turn around, don’t drown,” sheriff’s officials added.
It was one of two flood-related rescues in San Diego County on New Year’s Day. A few hours later, lifeguards rescued a man who had become trapped under a bridge in Mission Valley after the San Diego River rose.
Fire crews and a swift-water rescue team from the lifeguard service responded at 11:16 a.m. Thursday, reports of a man stuck in waist-high water on the north side of the riverbed under state Route 163, according to spokeswoman Candace Hadley of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
He was extricated and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Hadley said.
