A Toronto teen is thankful to walk away with just a scratch on her head after rushing flood waters swept her car off the road and into a creek during Monday’s downpour.
Emilija Davidovic, 18, was driving her car along Old Burnhamthorpe Road in Etobicoke at about 5:30 p.m. on Monday when water levels on the road started rising rapidly. When she tried to stop, flood water pushed her car through a concrete culvert.
She crashed into a tree, hit a pile of rocks and came to a stop in a fast-moving stream.
“I saw the water level around me rising,” Davidovic told CTV Toronto.
With part of her car underwater, she was forced to crawl out the passenger window, which was smashed.
“I just remember thinking, ‘I have to get out now,’” she said.
Two nearby residents helped get the teen out of the quick-moving water. She was later treated by paramedics.
“I was so lucky on so many aspects of the situation,” Davidovic said.
“My head hurts but … I’m just happy,” she said. “I woke up and I was smiling. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’m OK.’”
Davidovic has some advice for anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation: get out of the car quickly.
“Try to get out of the car as soon as possible because I waited a bit too long,” she said.
A record-breaking 126 mm of rain was recorded at Pearson International Airport on Monday. Toronto’s average monthly rainfall for July is 71 mm.
With a report by CTV Toronto’s Ashley Rowe
