corporate, what was it like to be there, swift moving water and try to rescue not only the person originally trapped but the others that became trapped as well? it is always concerning. other rescuers went into the same area and had problems. that was in our minds. the water was extremely violent as it came through the trees there. generally people realize don t realize how violent the patter is, moving very, very strong through that area. as the river was out of its banks. once the once the river started starts coming down like that, i mean, looks like rapids almost in some of the areas. were you surprised raquel she said she swam. she took lessons. she had to be pretty strong to stay and actually swim through some of that current. yes. it is very difficult to swim in swift water. generally you swim forward as it is pushing you downstream. she did great. used the water and swam with the current and got to the tree line
she s joining us this morning with her two firefighters, thanks to all of you being with us this morning. how are you doing this morning? were you hurt at all in that ordeal? i was but it is minor stuff. just scratches and bruises. when you look back at the video, can you believe you made it out alive? i haven t seen it. you didn t get a chance to look at it yet? we re watching it right now. at some points all you can eis your head as you re swimming. it is amazing that you re even able to keep yourself with that current, keep yourself swimming like that and above the water. i mean it really is amazing. what was going through your mind when all of this was happening? i was concentrating on making it to land and people. and all told, it was about two hours that you were trapped? yeah. right.
she keeps trying to swim but she s going nowhere. reporter: and there s little chance of her making it to dry land. five minutes later she s still holding on. a rescue airboat is on the way. the woman swims from one tree to the next but appears to be tiring. hang on, girl. reporter: by now she s been in the water for at least 20 minutes. a few minutes later she managed to clamor out of the torrent and on to a branch. but still, no rescue in sight. lightning forces the chopper to leave the scene. 40 minutes later, help is at hand but the first rescue boat capsizes. finally, fighting the current, a dingy gets close enough to pull the woman on-board, as well as some of her rescuers. after a terrifying ordeal, she s brought to dry land, apparently none the worse for the experience. a miracle that she made it out of there alive for as long as she was in the water and as
wow. lieutenant edwards, you got the call to help her. you got the call to help rescuers that got capsized at that point. what were you concentrating on as you were trying to get this rescue in and try to save everybody that was now trapped? we knew it would be difficult for us. and that there s heavily woods, densely populated. difficult to find her and the other rescuers as well. so the nice thing a lot of air support and it was just a concerted effort where everybody was very fortunate and we found them. we were able to rescue them out of the reese and put them in the zodiac and get them back to shore. the water was swift. the boat did capsize before ours. the good lord smiled on us and we made it back to shore. and everybody was elated. we were in a recovery mode. it is just the blessing to be on the rescue mode. and you look at it. lot of people packed in the bo because the first rescue boat capsized. corporal percy, explain what the conditions were like.
floodwaters rushed through the streets. cameras captured the dramatic scene of a teenage girl clinging to tree limb to keep from being swept away. jacqui jeras is in atlanta with more on this story. it was just amazing to watch this unfold. nobody had any idea what would happen to this girl. yeah, some amazing moments there. yesterday, it was so surreal, it seemed like a movie didn t it where you were cheering the girl on and just hoping for that happy ending. unfortunately, this was real life and there were many touch-and-go moments that could have ended in tragedy. this was sooner road in oklahoma city until eight inches of rain in just three hours turned it into a torrent of mud-brown water. caught by the sudden flood, a young woman tries clinging to anything to be swept from being swept away. a news helicopter catches sight of her, but then she disappears under a canopy of trees. for a few moments, no sign of her. but then okay, guys, i think this is a woman, clinging on to t