Man clings to edge of storm channel in rushing flood waters, California rescuers say

A man was rescued after he was found hanging onto an embankment in a California storm channel, first responders said.

Orange County Fire Authority got calls at 5:48 p.m. on Jan. 15 that a person was in a storm channel near Knott Avenue and Recycle Way in Cypress, according to a Facebook post by officials.

Rescuers said multiple crews, including two swift water rescue teams, responded to the area.

The man was found “barely hanging on to the embankment with half of his body in the moving water,” according to the release.

Officials did not say how the man got into the storm channel.

Firefighters tied a “personal flotation device” and then threw it to the man, officials said.

While the man was clinging to the flotation device, crew members were able to cut through the fence and pull him out of the channel, according to the release.

He was assessed by paramedics and transported to a hospital, officials said.

Cypress is about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles.