Cattle farmer rescues driver after car stalls on road flooded by Snohomish River
SNOHOMISH, Wash. - The Snohomish River is under a flood warning until Thursday morning. The river’s flood stage is 25 feet, and by Tuesday afternoon, levels were at 26 feet, causing moderate flooding on roads in Snohomish and Monroe.
The high waters flooded the Old Snohomish Monroe Road—one of the main roads that connect the two cities. While some drivers ignored the road-closed signs, others said it was not worth taking that chance.
Andrigo Rocha took the risk early Tuesday morning on his way to Snohomish.
"I didn’t think it was that deep, so I just went for it," said Rocha. "When I noticed it was too deep, it was too late already. The car had stalled. I mean, it just quit on me."
Rocha is not from the area, but said he was trying to get to Snohomish to finish a job. He drove through the high waters, and it wasn’t until his car stalled in the flood that Rocha realized he made a mistake.
"Oh no!" he laughed. "I was pissed. I was pissed. I was angry at myself for being so stupid to go through. I saw the water. There’s no one I can blame. I knew it was all my fault, I saw the water. I’ve been through this before and I should have turned around and I didn’t."
All afternoon, friends tried to help Rocha start his car again. Robin Aschenbrenner was the first person that came to his rescue. Aschenbrenner pulled the BMW out of the high waters with his pickup truck.
It was already a busy morning for Aschenbrenner, a cattle farmer, who had to move the 38 cows and bulls to higher ground.
"They can’t eat the grass. They might even drown, you never know what they’ll do. They might wander out into the river, the actual river. So, it’s important to get them out of the water so that we don’t lose them," said Aschenbrenner.
The farmer said he is always protecting the herd from high waters because the Snohomish River floods every year. However, he also said it seems like it’s happening more often due to more rain.
"The weather is changing," said Aschenbrenner. "Just got to roll with it, that’s all you can do."
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