By Gabrielle Gonzalez
Heard Argus
La PORTE — A rainy Monday morning lead to several accidents along area roadways. But on that day earlier this week, local heroes were formed in the community.
Douglas Hardesty woke up early that day and headed to work around 4:30 a.m. As he drove his blue GMC truck, the rain started to pour, and the heavy rainfall made the roads slick and flooded. At around 5:45 a.m., Hardesty was traveling northbound on U.S. 35 and encountered standing water. He lost control of his truck and hydroplaned into a tree. The truck slammed head-on into the tree, then flipped backward into a ditch.
“A guy came along and helped me. It was still raining hard so he helped me into his truck because I was in shock,” Hardesty said.
As the man was helping Hardesty into the truck, another vehicle was traveling toward them. Both men watched in horror as the car lost control and began skidding backward toward them. The car veered off the road and flipped into a ravine. The car was angled upside-down in the ravine, which had about three feet of water in it.
“The car was in the rocks and the water was rising, so the doors couldn’t open,” Hardesty said. “Water was filling the vehicle within 15 seconds. We only had a few more seconds before he would drown.”
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