suffering hypothermia if i got either of my legs in the water too long. fortunately, their plight has been noticed. i saw people gathering on the shore, they were looking and i m sure that they had called the rescue team. two teams are called. the ground rescue volunteers and at the kern county sheriff s offi office, the air support team of deputies mcadoo and nelson. we got our gear together that we needed to conduct the hoist rescue, pulled the helicopter out, took off and started heading out there. as we were going out there, the first ground units arrived on scene and actually confirmed that they had six people stuck in three different trees. when they reached the scene, mcadoo and nelson are surprised at how swollen the river is. stuff that s usually dry land was underwater. it was shocking to see the peril that these people were in. the ground team rescues two people using boats, but they can t reach mike or ed, marooned
tree and considers his options. i couldn t move upstream, it was very dangerous and i stayed where i was. reporter: further down the river ed has found something to hang on to. i grabbed onto the tree and pulled myself up. i was holding on for dear life. reporter: two teams are called and ground rescue volunteers and at the sheriff s office, the air support team of deputies mcado and nelson. when they reach the scene they are surprised at how swollen the river is. the ground team rescues two people using boats but can t reach mike or ed marooned in the trees. that s when they asked for us to conduct a hoist rescue. reporter: the rafters had been in the hour more than an hour and growing dangerously chilled. how much longer can they hold on? caught on camera, cheating death prenemieres this sunday a 8:00 p.m. president obama is now heading to florida for an