Authorities use canoe to rescue mail carrier stuck in vehicle on flooded road
Authorities rescued a mail carrier -- and all her undelivered mail -- when her vehicle got stuck on a flooded Augusta Township road Friday.
Courtesy of the Augusta Township Fire Department
A mail carrier on a rural route in Augusta Township got in some deep trouble Friday afternoon.
The vehicle she was driving to deliver the mail got stuck in waist-deep water on Rosbolt Road between Whittaker and Tuttle Hill around noon, Assistant Augusta Township Fire Chief Dave Music said.
“She tried to make through a road that was flooded ditch to ditch,” he added. “You couldn’t see the road. It looked like a river."
The road was flooded from a nearby creek due to storms that swept their way through Washtenaw County Thursday and Friday. The woman though the water was shallow enough to drive through, but there was an unexpected dip in the road, Music said.
At the time, fire crews were on a call nearby for downed wires, but immediately responded when the woman called 911 and said she was stuck.
“She couldn’t get out," Music said. "We didn’t know if she was pinned in or what.”
When authorities arrived, the woman didn't want to open the doors because she didn't want the undelivered mail to get wet.
“We had the next thunderstorm coming in," Music said. "We wanted to get her out of there.”
Officials from the Augusta Township Fire Department and the Department of Natural Resources called in a boat, but while it was en route, commandeered a canoe from a local residence, Music said.
They retrieved first the woman in the canoe and then the bundle of mail, which was left with her supervisor and delivered later that day.
“Her biggest concern was the mail,” Music said.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
jns131
Mon, Jul 1, 2013 : 8:21 p.m.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Need to add floods to this one as well.
Dave
Mon, Jul 1, 2013 : 1:04 p.m.
I bet that Escape is a goner now.
Chief3/2
Sun, Jun 30, 2013 : 5:34 a.m.
The comment from Hemenway hit the nail on the head . She could have wadded out but she would not leave the mail. The mail was not in water proof totes and she had many box packages in the back seat. The water was mid door so she did not want the door opened .
actionjackson
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 12:26 p.m.
I would love to hear the reaction from some of those naysayers if their mail were delivered soaking wet!
mady
Sun, Jun 30, 2013 : 5:38 p.m.
excellent point, couldn't have said it better!!!
Tesla
Sun, Jun 30, 2013 : 3 a.m.
I would have walked the mail in the plastic totes it is in....waterproof by the way to a safe area instead of I dunno....calling for a rescue and waiting for 20 minutes sitting there. Stupid.
Cash
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 1:48 p.m.
If she opened her car door and the mail got drenched and ruined, these same people would be screaming about her wanting her fired. SMH.
Hugh Giariola
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 11:12 a.m.
Kudos to her dedication to protecting what is entrusted to her.
Hemenway
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 4:20 a.m.
Hi Folks, Please allow me to shed some information here. I used to live in that area and recall one icy winter day pulling a mail carrier out of a ditch. In learned that the mail carriers that serve this area, and many rural areas, are temporary workers under contract with USPS. They don't receive much in the way of wages, they use their own vehicles and they have personal responsibility for the mail in their care. This is a big deal and in their contract and training. They are not federal workers and do not receive federal benefits. The person I met was humble folk doing their job as best as possible. The response here that the person did not want the mail to get wet ring true with what I learned in my experience. I appluad that mail carrier for their intergrity. How many times to you get that nowadays.
jns131
Mon, Jul 1, 2013 : 8:23 p.m.
I could not agree more with this one. We have had a lot of temp workers and this is not an easy job. Same thing as newspaper carriers. I remember seeing many a slide on a van when our paper was being delivered.
nowayjose
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 4 a.m.
Are we really calling that a rescue?
CountyKate
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 2:57 a.m.
You can always tell the ones who don't read the article before they comment. She didn't want to leave the car, people, because she didn't want the mail to be destroyed by water. She took her responsibility to deliver the mail intact seriously. I applaud her.
Tesla
Sun, Jun 30, 2013 : 2:59 a.m.
She couldn't carry the mail? lol How silly. Postal workers are a spoiled group these days.
GP
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 10:17 p.m.
After reading Hemenway's comment, I take back my own snotty comment.
GP
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 7:03 a.m.
She didn't want to get in trouble; plain and simple. She was already looking at trouble for driving in the water.
justcurious
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 1:30 a.m.
No waist deep water in this picture....I think I would have turned around before driving into this much water with a low clearance car. As someone else said, why didn't she just walk to the nearest house?
SonnyDog09
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 1:13 a.m.
The water is knee deep. Why was she unable to walk?
mady
Sun, Jun 30, 2013 : 5:35 p.m.
would YOU care to try it?
huh7891
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 1:02 a.m.
Not rain..nor sleet, snow or a flood can keep the mail from being delivered
Jon Wax
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 12:53 a.m.
"Willllson!!" Peace Wax
mady
Sun, Jun 30, 2013 : 5:34 p.m.
Good one, Wax! Peace, Madeleine
Cash
Fri, Jun 28, 2013 : 11:56 p.m.
Good dedicated person to be concerned about her responsibility for securing and delivering the mail.
cinnabar7071
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 2:04 p.m.
I wonder if that was on her mind when she drove into the water?
Tesla
Fri, Jun 28, 2013 : 11:36 p.m.
How silly. What she didn't want to get her feet wet? Good grief.
cinnabar7071
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 2:01 p.m.
I wonder if they'll help me out of the bath tub, waters pretty deep!
BHarding
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 11:24 a.m.
The article said she didn't want the undelivered MAIL to get wet. That was her biggest concern.
brian
Sat, Jun 29, 2013 : 2:31 a.m.
Yeah, they used a canoe but are standing in the water. Charge her for the rescue.
Ann English
Fri, Jun 28, 2013 : 11:01 p.m.
A short road with better-known, much longer roads to the north and south; glad to hear that the water receded even there before the evening came.