Costa Mesa roommates rescue Vietnam War vet trapped in rising floodwaters

Two Costa Mesa roommates are running on barely two hours of sleep Friday after spending their night rescuing a Vietnam War veteran whose car began floating in fast-rising floodwater outside their home — a problem they say happens on their street in almost every storm.

The rescue happened around 3 a.m. along Pomona Avenue near 17th Street, an area neighbors describe as a “flooding hotspot” during even moderate storms.

‘His car just started floating’

Nicole Fox said she woke up to the sound of “torrential” rain pounding against her window. Within seconds, she realized the street outside was filling fast.

“That street floods all the time,” Fox, a five-year resident, told KTLA. “I popped up to check, and sure enough, it was turning into a lake. Then we saw this older man driving right into it.”

The man — who the roommates later learned is a Vietnam War veteran — unknowingly entered the deep dip in the road where water collects rapidly. His car lifted off the pavement almost immediately.

“He opened the door and yelled, ‘Can somebody help me?’” Fox said. “It was terrifying. His car was literally floating.”

A diver wades into chest-high water

That’s when her roommate, Felicia Johnson, jumped into action.

Johnson grabbed the only hooded jacket she could find, pulled on her shoes and headed straight into the water — which was up to her chest.

“The water was already up to his waist,” she said. “He said, ‘I’m scared,’ and I told him, ‘I’ve got you.’”

Fox joked during the rescue that Johnson was basically acting like a lifeguard, to which Johnson responded with one of the lighter moments of the night:

“I mean… I am [Professional Association of Diving Instructors]-certified,” she said with a laugh. “But it wasn’t that deep — it was really more about keeping him calm.”

Johnson said the man had knee problems and was struggling to stay steady as his car continued to drift.

“I helped him find his footing, and toward the end I kind of had to pick him up so he could get to higher ground,” she said.

The roommates wrapped him in towels, warmed him up and drove him home just a few blocks away — a drive that turned into a maze of flooded intersections.

Video captured by the roommates shows the water swirling around parked cars and pushing the veteran’s car sideways.

‘This keeps happening. What’s the solution?’

Fox and Johnson say this stretch of Pomona Avenue floods “every single time” there’s a heavy downpour — and that they’ve watched multiple cars get destroyed over the years.

“Cars get totaled constantly,” Fox said. “Firefighters always come, pound on the cars to make sure no one’s inside, then bring a vacuum truck to pump the water out. And then it just happens the next storm.”

Johnson said the repeated flooding has become a serious safety issue.

“Eventually someone is going to be seriously injured, if they haven’t already,” she said. “We just want the city to fix it. What’s our solution here?”

Fox added that as they were driving the veteran home, police were already out blocking off multiple “lakes” forming on neighborhood roads.

A spokesperson for the City of Costa Mesa told KTLA that City Hall was closed Friday but that he had reached out to the Public Works Department for information. This story will be updated when the city responds.

Tracy Mejia contributed to this report.