Good Samaritans help stranded school bus in floodwaters

Amy Hollyfield Image
ByAmy Hollyfield KGO logo
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Good Samaritans help stranded school bus in Petaluma floodwaters
Two Good Samaritans came to the rescue of a bus driver and a special needs student who were stuck in floodwaters in Petaluma.

PETALUMA, Calif. -- A bus had to be towed to safety after getting stuck in floodwaters this morning in Petaluma. There was one student with special needs on board, he has since been picked up.

Two high school students driving to school in their pickup trucks saw the bus and stopped to help.

"The kid was around our age, 17, 16 years-old. He was screaming a little bit. He was shaken up, he was fine when he was in the bus, but once we got him out of the bus and in the water we could tell he was shaken up," said Justin Giacomini-Plumbtree, Petaluma resident.

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This happened on Liberty Road in Petaluma. The teens say the bus driver was quiet about the experience, but they pieced together what they think could have happened.

"I would think the water was too deep to see the yellow line and another car was coming and he could not see where the edge of the road was because you could see the middle, you have to guess Once you start to go off in a heavy bus like that it is just going to slide right in," said Casen Straub, Petaluma resident.

The two Good Samaritans stuck around to help the CHP officer with traffic control.

"There are so many flooded roads they could only send one CHP officers, so we figured he needed help because there were so many confused cars going in every direction," said Straub.

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And this wasn't the only trouble spot in the area. Rain created road hazards all over the county, keeping these two busy all morning.

"There's another flood on Skillman, a Dodge Challenger stuck so we had to push him out so it's been pretty bad," said Giacomini-Plumbtree.

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