Krystina Reyes watched the terrifying sight unfold before her eyes.
After leaving a job in the Sand Canyon area of Santa Clarita, California, on Thursday morning, Reyes and her cousins and uncles were in vans behind an SUV whose driver underestimated the power of fast-moving floodwaters and got swept away before his vehicle tipped over on its side, KCBS-TV reported.
Image source: KCBS-TV video screenshot
Reyes and her family members jumped into action — and a cellphone video caught what transpired.
They secured the SUV with straps to nearby posts, and Reyes' uncle can be seen on video climbing atop the SUV and checking the driver's condition.
“Give me a rock!” her uncle was heard yelling before he broke a rear side window with a stone and cleared away the rest of the glass with his feet.
Image source: KCBS-TV video screenshot
“We were even scared that something else was going to come down and take it, take him, my uncle — take the straps, take everything,” Reyes told the station.
Krystina Reyes (Image source: KCBS-TV video screenshot)
But the driver, Margarito Martinez, was seen climbing through the window that Reyes' uncle busted out, and both men made it to safety, KCBS reported.
Image source: KCBS-TV video screenshot
“[I] just thank God nothing happened, and they were both over on the other side again,” Reyes remarked to the station.
But she wasn't the only one sending praises to the heavens.
“God is great, and I surrendered to him to save me," an emotional Martinez told KCBS in Spanish, noting that he thought he would die as water rushed inside his SUV.
Margarito Martinez (Image source: KCBS-TV video screenshot)
And the blessings continued. The SUV was one of Martinez's few possessions, but his boss at a nearby ranch told the station he offered to replace his employee's vehicle.
