Stranded women rescued from flooded SUV near Bellingham

Two young women who tried to ford a flooded road in a Chevy Blazer were rescued by police and firefighters Wednesday evening, Nov. 18, near Bellingham.

Heavy rains lifted stretches of the Nooksack River above flood stage this week, shutting down parts of Marine Drive and Slater Road.

Two women, in their late teens or early 20s, were riding in a Chevy Blazer west on Marine when they ignored a road closure sign and tried to drive through the water around 5 p.m., said Bellingham Fire Department Assistant Chief Bill Hewett. The engine broke down near the deepest point.

Cold river water seeped into the cab of the Chevy.

“Luckily they were smart enough to stay in their vehicle and call 911,” Hewett said. “Easily it could’ve been a much worse scenario there.”

Firefighters struggled to improvise a rescue in the dark, with the swift water being too shallow for a boat but too deep for a safe rescue from another truck. Within the hour Lummi Nation police brought in a high-clearance vehicle, borrowed from the tribe’s natural resource department, and drove the women to safety.

Emergency aid workers checked them for signs of hypothermia. Ultimately they did not need to be taken to St. Joseph hospital by ambulance.

Another car, a Nissan, had been stranded in almost the same spot on Marine, just a bit further to the east, around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Hewett said.

That driver waded through waist-deep waters to safety, and took a ride from a passing Whatcom Transportation Authority supervisor to a nearby fire station. She did not have serious injuries, either. Her car was still stuck there at the time of the evening rescue.

And as first-responders prepared to make the rescue Wednesday evening, another dozen or so cars drove past the closure sign, to where firefighters were parked, Hewett said. They were directed to turn around.

Hewett urged drivers to respect the road closures.

“You’re risking your life, and risking your passenger’s life,” he said. “That running water is undermining the road underneath. You don’t know if there’s a big sinkhole in the middle to get stuck in. … Even if you don’t know the danger immediately, by the time you find it, it’s going to be too late.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Stranded women rescued from flooded SUV near Bellingham."