This past weekend, flash floods ravaged Southwestern Virginia, continuing a trend of severe winter weather that has brought snow, ice and power outages to the region.
Thaxton was one of the many areas that were affected, where linemen Jeff Dotson, Cameron Lacy and Tyler Blair had just so happened to be working at the time and were observing the water levels.
“We were actually up on the ridge previously,” Dotson said. “The water was high up on the ridge, so we were assessing the water situation, and we were traveling to the next side.”
It was then that they observed a man in his Jeep attempting to cross a flooded bridge.
Unfortunately for the man, the rushing water was too powerful and overtook the Jeep.
“I don’t know if the bridge was partially washed out or if it was the bridge itself,” Dotson said. “But then the front left tire drops off the bridge, and immediately, the current sweeps the jeep off the bridge entirely.”
The Jeep flipped upside down and was lodged between two trees. The man then proceeded to leave his car and get caught up in the water.
This was when the three men sprang into action. A rope was secured around a tree and Lacy’s waist, who dove into the frigid water to make the save.
“I’m explaining it to him, ‘This is going to hurt because you have to hold your breath,’” Lacy said. “‘I have to pull you under the branch and through some briar that is on the bank to get him on the bank to get him to dry land.’”
They were not out of the woods yet, as everyone who got into the water was feeling the freezing temperatures.
“It was frantic at that point because Tyler was going into hypothermia. Cameron was struggling with hypothermia; plus, we had to deal with this older gentleman who couldn’t move under his own power,” Dotson said.
Thankfully, everyone made it out okay and is expected to make a full recovery.
As for our three heroes, they were already back to work the day after it happened and working for the community.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s restoring power, changing a flat tire for someone, or saving someone from a flood, that’s what linemen do,” Dotson said. “It’s in our system I guess. We’re here to help people.”
