The FoxNews article states that they called 9-11 while IN the vehicle AS it was filling with water.
Call me crazy, but if I were in a similar situation, my first response would be to GET OUT OF THE SINKING VAN first, THEN call 9-11 afterwards. Yeesh.
Did these women not have the slightest bit of survival instinct? Nope...no effort to save your own skin - call 9-11 instead and wait for them to rescue you. Flat out stupid.
Too bad they didn’t have a shotgun to fire into the air.
That was the sad part to me. They drove into the ocean. Yes, there are waves, but it probably didn’t drop to 20 feet or anything. They probably just got stuck in the sand at the end of the boat ramp.
But they probably didn’t understand either to roll down their windows, or to wait for the pressure to equalize so they could open their door. (Maybe their car shorted out and they couldn’t open their windows). SO they likely drowned before they could open the doors. it is hard to open a car door if there already is water outside, and not yet inside.
So it makes sense that they would call 911. But the 911 operator should have been able to explain exactly what to do — unbuckle your belt, take deep breaths, put your one hand on the door latch and pull on it, and then keep pushing until the door gives way.
With these simple instructions, this was an easily survivable error. They didn’t drive off a bridge and flip their car or anything.
BTW, we just had a woman do that nearby, on the Bay Bridge in Maryland. She managed to drive her car off the bridge, and it crashed near the shore upside down. She managed to keep her cool, wait for pressure to equalize, open the door, and swim out to safety. She said God spoke to her and told her what to do.
I bet they couldn’t open the doors or windows because the electric locks and window openers probably shorted out.
What horror...the only way out was to bust the windows, they probably didn’t have a hammer in the car, and by the time they would have gone out they’d be floating in the ocean, drifting in the dark away from the boat ramp.
What horror. I hope they’re at peace now.
Ed