Teen was at a movie when flash floods happened—his instincts helped him save many lives
A person's good instincts can come in handy in many situations. Similarly, a teen from Florida helped stranded drivers during flash floods because of his quick thinking. The 18-year-old Thomas Ruzzano was at the movie theater with his girlfriend when the incident happened. They started hearing warnings about the flash floods and got out of the place. That's when Ruzzano noticed drivers stranded at the flooded road and he rushed to help everyone out of the situation, per WPTV News.
Thunderstorms had begun while the movie was playing at the Mizner Park theater. "During the movie, we just heard lightning, pouring the whole movie and then on the way out, we're in a flood. We were going down the road and we just saw cars backed up. The whole roundabout, the whole entire garage, everything, even the bathrooms in the movie theaters, flooded," Ruzzano recounted. He immediately jumped into the water to get the stranded drivers out of their cars. "I went from car to car. Probably six or seven people just going car to car, making sure everyone was okay." He told Local 10, "I got out of my car and saw all these people struggling." At that time, he also noticed an old man stranded inside his car.
The man was in the driver's seat and couldn't undo his seatbelt as the flooding continued. The water had reached above his shoulders and he needed help as soon as possible. Ruzzano went ahead to help him and the other drivers he had rescued followed suit to help the man out of the car. "We unbuckled him, got him out and made sure he was fine." "He was actually stuck in the car and we had to help him out. I think he was a little lost in the whole situation, so we helped him. He was trying to push the car after we got him out and we were like, 'No, sir. We just have to get you to safety, make sure you're okay.' We brought him to a restaurant nearby and just made sure he's okay."
He had also helped other drivers after ensuring that the old man was safe. The teen was glad to get his instincts from his dad, who had taught him how to deal with such a situation. "I learned it from my dad; he always taught me and raised me right." Ruzzano recounted how all the drivers he had helped were so thankful for his presence and courage during the incident. "They were just very thankful and they kept telling me how lucky they were to have me there."
He was also glad that he could help people stuck in the harrowing situation. "It's very fortunate how things played out. I'm just happy everyone's okay. It was the least I could do." According to WPTV News' YouTube video, several parts of Boca Raton, Florida, were affected by the rains and experienced severe flooding. Many people were left stranded on the roads and their cars had been submerged in water. The area had experienced eight inches of rain that day.