By Tim Bryant
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
O'FALLON, Mo. — Erica Strickland was trying to get home with medicine for her husband when she drove into floodwater rushing over Hoff Road.
Cloudbursts that pushed Peruque Creek out of its banks also swept Strickland's Ford Taurus into a field. Muddy water rose quickly in the car, forcing her to climb out the sunroof.
As she held on to the car's roof, her feet still inside the vehicle, Strickland used her cell phone to call 911. On Tuesday, Strickland thanked Becky Lenk, a 911 dispatcher, for keeping her calm during the ordeal early Monday.
"She saved my life," Strickland said.
Authorities repeatedly warn motorists against driving into floodwater. Strickland, who works at Progress South Elementary School, said she was unaware of the depth and speed of the floodwater until she drove into it in the early morning gloom.
"I thought this was it," she said. "This was how I was going to go."
She said Lenk kept her calm in the minutes it took rescuers to arrive.
"That voice is what kept me from jumping and trying to swim," Strickland said.
Lenk, a dispatcher for 17 years, said Strickland had been determined to get through the crisis.
"We talked about our families and how much she wanted to go home," said Lenk, adding she doubted she could have remained as calm as Strickland.
O'Fallon firefighters kept from Strickland's car by the floodwater summoned the fire district's boat crew, which plucked her to safety.
Fire district officials brought Strickland, Lenk and firefighters together on Tuesday. The boat crew was unavailable because it was on standby in Warren County as emergency workers dealt with a broken overflow pipe at the Alpine Lake dam.
Strickland said she was just happy to get home to her husband, John, a truck driver.
Her husband said: "Erica is a very strong woman. That's one of the reasons I love her."
He became emotional while expressing his gratitude to Lenk and firefighters for their efforts.
"All I can say is gentlemen, Becky, thank you very much."
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