Driver escapes car swept away by river, winds up stranded on island, CA officials say

A driver was rescued by a helicopter crew after a rushing river swept his car away in California, officials said.

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and California Fire San Benito-Monterey Unit requested the help of the Coastal Division Air Operations to rescue a man stranded on an island in King City, according to a March 11 Facebook post by air operations.

The “rising river washed” the driver and his car away, but the man was “able to escape the vehicle and get to an island in the middle of the flooded Salinas River,” officials said.

Officials said the man was stranded on the island, and a helicopter was dispatched to rescue him.

The chopper found the man, and a rescuer dropped down to help the man get ready to be pulled up, officials said.

They were then lifted at the same time, officials said.

The “shaken but uninjured” man was taken to safety in a nearby lot, according to the release.

King City is about 150 miles southeast of San Francisco.

This story was originally published March 13, 2023 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Driver escapes car swept away by river, winds up stranded on island, CA officials say."