Local

Man rescued after driving around barricade, getting stuck on flooded road

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Deputies were not happy that they had to rescue a man in flood waters after his pick-up truck got stuck.

It happened along Nicholson Road in Forsyth County. Several days of rain have caused the Etowah River to rise over its banks and flooded the road.

Larry Lay told Channel 2's Lori Wilson that he was on his way home from work Thursday afternoon when he drove around a barricade that he thought deputies were moving out of the way.

He tried to cross the road using his truck’s 4-wheel drive but quickly realized he was in trouble.

“I looked at the signs and thought it wasn't that deep, but it's deeper than what you think,” Lay said. “It started rising immediately.”

The truck didn’t make it through.

TRENDING STORIES:

“My truck sputtered, and I thought, ‘I'm going to go to the higher part,’ and then it stalled out,” Lay said.

Sgt. Richard Thompson said he put the barricades out shortly after 5 a.m. Thursday.

“He actually had to go around the barricades to get to the water, which is super dangerous by the way,” Thompson said.

Lay said when his car stalled out. he immediately called for help.

“Fortunately, this worked out OK. The gentleman is safe and sound, our troops are safe. That's what's important here today, everybody is safe,” Thompson said. “When you can't see the lines in the road, you can't see to the other side, those two things make it just a terrible idea to try to cross a road submerged in water.”