Man, Friends Filmed Stuck In Elevator As Floodwater Reaches Neck-Level

KEY POINTS

Three people stuck in the elevator were able to pry open the doors
The trio was able to swim to safety before emergency services arrived
Four more people got stuck in another elevator

A Nebraska man has filmed himself and two others stuck in an elevator nightmare with rising neck-level floodwater.

On Saturday night, a storm brought hail and flashflood in Omaha. At around 10 p.m., Tony Luu and two of his friends got on the elevator to check the damage caused by the storm outside their apartment. When the elevator car reached the lobby, the trio found themselves stuck inside as floodwater rushed in.

"Water started coming in through the vents and then I just thought it was going to come up to my ankles," Luu said, reported KVET.

The event turned into a nightmare as the rising water level reached their stomach, threatening to drown them soon. “It was like something out of a movie,” Luu told KTRK. “We kind of figured, ‘OK, this is real.'”

Though the severe weather and heaviest rain has ended, please use caution while traveling in various areas of #Omaha. There are reports of manhole covers missing, debris in the roadways, as well as flooding/standing water. #UseCaution https://t.co/DHBzq4t7l9
— Omaha Police Dept (@OmahaPolice) August 8, 2021

In the footage, at one point, Luu’s friend, whose head was almost submerged in the water, could be seen talking to someone on the phone. Luu said he called 911 and his other roommates for help.

"I was like, 'Hey, you need to come down. I could be dying right now," Luu said, reported KVET.

However, Luu and his friends were able to pry open the elevator door before first responders arrived at the scene. "We just got it open and started swimming out and once I got out I just couldn't believe like wow this is something you see in a movie," he added.

Luu and his friends were able to make it to safety. Daylon Guy, one of Luu’s friends, said four others were stuck in another elevator at the time, reported the New York Post. But, none of the passengers in either of the elevator required medical attention.

“It was pretty traumatizing, but they seemed to be doing well,” he added, reported the paper.

According to the National Weather Service, Omaha received five inches of rain in a short period on Saturday, which caused severe flash flooding across the region.

“The combined sewer system was overloaded,” said Steve Andersen, who runs sewer maintenance for the city of Omaha, to the Omaha World-Herald. “Some of our rain gauges showed up to 4 inches [of rain] falling an hour. We’re fortunate that the rain was short lived.”