Just after 11:30, Tuesday morning rescue crews responded to Lantana Square Shopping Center in Hockessin for reports that a man stranded in floodwaters.
Sources familiar with the incident tell First State Update that the elderly man was in a vehicle that was being pulled into a whirlpool caused by a large drainage pipe. As three bystanders attempted to rescue the man they were pulled into the drainage pipe and carried away under the parking to through the pipe. The drain let out into a retention pond on the other side of the parking lot. All three were reported to be okay.
The elderly man was either pulled trough a sunroof or a window as the car was fully submerged, according to our source.
A separate group of people was also rescued from the flooded parking lot by responding crews. Additional reports that an elderly man was trying to save a dog from the floodwaters were believed to be related to the man from the initial call.
Our source tell us that one man, the last person crews were searching for left the scene and went to a doctor’s office to get checked out. The search was called off when the man called his work to say that he was on his way, according to our source.
This is a developing story. We will update this story as more information becomes available.