SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - The skies in San Diego have certainly changed from Sunday night to Monday following Tropical Storm Hilary.
“That’s when it started to rain a little bit harder and the wind started to pick up,” said San Diego Lifeguard Services Lt. Ric Stell.
As the storm’s intensity picked up, so did the call for help.
“Within about a half hour, we ended up with a 911 emergency call,” Stell said.
The call was regarding 13 people possibly on the verge of being swept away by rapidly rising water in the San Diego River near the Morena Blvd. bridge.
Stell, who is the leader of the Swift Water Rescue Team of lifeguards, and his team jumped into action.
“In the river situations, usually we get, you know, two, three, half a dozen,” Stell said. “But usually, it stays half a dozen or so; last night was definitely more than normal.”
Stell and his team were in the thick of the downpour working to get the people out.
“The first thing is to get as close as we can to getting to those individuals. And that was the hardest part, the location. Very hard to access San Diego River in some parts,” Stell said.
Despite the challenges, Stell said expertise and training of the team, along with coordination, were the backbone of getting the 13 people to safety.
“And that can be several years’ worth of training. I have one individual on the team that’s been on the team since Hurricane Katrina. So, a lot of training, a lot of time, a lot of commitment. We spend at least a week out of state training on rivers so we can be prepared for something like this,” Stell said.
This rescue like many others, no matter how many people, Stell and his team do whatever they can to get people like this out of harm’s way.
“That’s the pride and joy of what we do. Every once in a while, we get a thank you and it’s much appreciated. But it’s not necessarily something we need to continue to do what we do best,” Stell said.
