People Manage to Pry Open Elevator Doors as Water Rises to Their Heads During Massive Storm in Omaha, Nebrask

Three friends inside an elevator amid a large storm in Omaha, Nebraska, found themselves trapped as the lift filled with water in a harrowing ordeal they managed to capture on camera.

Tony Luu and two friends took an elevator down to the ground floor of his downtown Omaha apartment building to examine the damage from the storm about 10 p.m. Saturday.

The group made it to the ground floor of the building when water began rushing in from the lobby.  

“Once it got to my stomach, we kind of figured, ‘OK, this is real,'” Luu told ABC News. “It was like something out of a movie.”

Video recorded by Luu’s friend shows the group nearly completely submerged as his friend, who appears to be on the phone with emergency services, urging them to hurry. Luu and his friends managed to force the elevator doors open before first responders arrived. They had been inside the elevator for about 10 minutes.

The flash flooding caused by the severe storm overwhelmed people inside of a car. Footage of the incident showed the car appearing on the verge of being swept away when a good Samaritan pulled those inside the vehicle out. 

About five inches of rain hit Omaha Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

Related Stories