On March 19, 2016 at approximately 10:03 PM the Dunn County Communications Center received a 911 call reporting a vehicle and its four occupants were trapped in flood waters and the water was entering the vehicle. The incident occurred on 160th Avenue just west of Meridean in the Town of Peru along the Chippewa River. Dunn County Sheriffs’ Deputies responded to the scene as well as the Durand Fire Department, Durand Ambulance Service, and area Dunn County First Responders.
The Fire Department was able to safely extricate the four occupants who had taken housing on the roof of the vehicle to avoid the flood waters. The four occupants were safely removed from the flood water and no injuries were reported other than minor exposure to the cold water.
The Dunn County Sheriff’s Office and other first responders would like to remind all persons traveling near flooded roadways to “TURN AROUND - DON’T DROWN”. When roadways become flooded it is impossible for an operator to know where the actual paved roadway is and if the actual roadway is not washed out. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that over half of all flood-related drownings occur when a vehicle is driven into hazardous flood water.