Blog Challenge: Gratitude Day 10

Today I am grateful for volunteer rescuers. I am posting this really late tonight. I have been trying to figure out what to post about today. As I was sitting here watching a mindless sitcom and organizing awards for tomorrow's assembly, news previews came on discussing the following story. Northern Oregon and Southern Washington have spent the last couple of days getting hammered with two strong storms that have brought high winds and lots of rain. On the coast that combination always, always causes problems but tonight a very scary event occurred. There have been many reports over the years of devastation from storms like these. Flooding, mud slides, damaged roads and homes are only a few things that we often see from these storms. But usually people have enough warning to get out of the way, batten down their homes and hunker down to ride out the storm. Tonight's story was different. Tonight a bridge gave way over a creek that was rising and rushing. On that bridge was an SUV carrying a mom, her daughter and two foster children home from a church event. The SUV ended up in the water where it floated around a 1/4 mile down river before coming to rest against the bank. The 11-yo girl in that car was able to get out, help her mom and the younger children out on to the roof of the vehicle and then climb a tree, get to a neighbor's house and call for help.

The volunteer rescuers and even a TV crew jumped into action. They donned safety equipment and climbed out onto the same tree that the little girl had climbed to get out and got that mom and those little kids off the roof of the SUV and on to dry ground. The TV crew helped hold a ladder that the rescuers had to manuever into place and climb to get to that family. Thankfully everyone was pulled to safety and while cold, wet and terrified, all those involved are safe and being evaluated by medical personnel as I type this.

So tonight I am thankful for volunteer rescuers, TV crews that are in the right place at the right time and brave 11-yo girls.