KVUE in Austin, Texas, was speaking to Kerry Packer after video of him sitting in his half-submerged auto started going viral during the extreme weather event.
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News anchors couldn’t believe what they were hearing when the man they were interviewing about flooding revealed he was still 20 feet off the ground waiting to be rescued. She shared her husband’s video and said she had been in contact with authorities.
“You’re still in the tree?” one of the shocked anchors asks. That’s how bad the flooding is here so I don’t know how far I am from the road now but I would guess about half a mile judging from how far my vehicle was being swept’.
Severe flooding washed the man into a forest where he jumped out of his vehicle and climbed a tree.
“I’m, I’m – yeah, I’m about 20 feet up a tree”, Packer answered.
Packer said he could only see water around him and said that the area was like a lake.
Emergency Services – including a rescue helicopter – arrived on scene to rescue Packer, KVUE reported.
The news crew tell Packer that they “wish him good luck” and say that they are attempting to get him help.
In the end it took four hours for Mr Packer to be rescued from the tree.
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Friday’s flooding in Austin, Texas, provided us with a wonderful example of the oddities of journalism.
