Couple carried baby through waist-high floodwater after car swept off road
A new mother has told of the terrifying moment her car was swept off the road in raging floodwaters while she was trying to escape her flood-ravaged home with her fiancé and three-month-old baby.
Megan Krawczyk woke up before sunrise to find floodwaters rising up her driveway and made the decision with her fiancé, Michael, to flee their home in Latrobe, Tasmania.
The couple quickly packed as much as they could before carrying their baby son and their cat into their car.
The streets in the small town were already inundated with water and it was still rising.
Ms Krawczyk told 936 ABC Hobart the strength of the current was too much for the small vehicle.
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"We got to Gilbert Street, Gilbert Street was full of water, everywhere was water, we got to the bridge, and then we hit water and it started flooding the car,” she said.
The force of the water swept the car against a fence, rendering it immobile.
"If it wasn't for this small barbed wire fence we would've been gone into the river, and the rip was coming in and it was so quick and it was so strong."
While sitting pinned against the fence, they saw an abandoned car sitting out of the flood zone 60 metres away and Michael made the decision to risk his life to save his family.
Making three trips through the ravenous water, Michael transported his son, his partner and the cat to the safety of the empty vehicle.
"I could hear Michael, screaming my name, and I guess when you see your family safe, you breathe a sigh of relief, but because I did that I lost my strength and I guess the adrenaline started wearing off and I started to get really tired, because that tide was so strong."
As she grew weaker, the water had started to rise as high as her waist.
"If it wasn't for that abandoned car, and my partner being able to get me out of the water, because it was so strong, we wouldn't be alive today."
Police arrived during Michael’s final trip and drove the family to safety.
“It’s still so surreal,” Ms Krawczyk said.
"We are an absolute miracle, we are alive, we lost our car, we've lost a few possessions in our house."
News break – June 9
