On Thursday, March 23, 2023, at approximately 8:30pm, Kings County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch received a call of a subject stranded in the water in the area of 6th Avenue and Redding Avenue south of Corcoran. The subject later identified as Jose Avalos stated water was pouring into the cab of his Ford F150 and the water level was over his headlights.
As Deputies were on their way to the area, KCSO Air 1 flew overhead and located Jose who was standing on the hood of his pickup truck surrounded by water. It appeared his pickup truck had been washed off the roadway and was floating in the water.
The KCSO Water Rescue Unit (WRU) was deployed along with the California Office of Emergency Services and their high-water rescue vehicles.
The WRU arrived on scene and determined the best way to reach Jose was by boat. A KCSO boat was launched with Air 1 overhead. Air 1 helped to guide the WRU boat to Jose where he was successfully rescued. Thankfully Jose was uninjured.
The investigation revelated that Jose had driven around road closed signs and had become trapped in rapidly rising water levels.
Valuable recourses were used to rescue Jose. KCSO reminds everyone to please obey road closure signs. The risk to your life is real and it simply is not worth driving around the signs. Our goal is to keep everyone safe as we navigate unprecedented water flow into Kings County.
Original source can be found here
