On Monday, a 5-year-old boy was reportedly swept away by floodwaters brought on by a series of storms in California.
According to the Associated Press, the boy, Kyle Doan, was with his mother while she was driving a truck Monday morning near Paso Robles. At around 8 am, the truck became stranded in floodwaters, and bystanders came to help the mother and son.
While they successfully pulled the mother out, Doan was swept away by the floodwaters. According to the assistant chief of the Cal Fire/San Luis Obispo County Fire Department, Tom Swanson, the boy was likely swept downstream and into a river.
Following a seven-hour search that ended due to low visibility, officials only managed to find one of Doan's shoes. Authorities have not yet determined Doan's status.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office announced that they would resume their search on Wednesday.
At the time of the incident, no evacuation order had been issued.
California has had a tumultuous start to the new year as the state continues to face severe storms. As of Tuesday, at least 17 people had died from the storms, NBC News reports.
"Our message to Californians is simple: be hyper-vigilant," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. "There are still several days of severe winter weather ahead, and we need all Californians to be alert and heed the advice of emergency officials."
President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency on Monday to provide relief efforts across the Golden State.
Monday's incident involving Doan occurred on the fifth anniversary of the Montecito mudslides that killed 23 people and destroyed over 100 homes.
On Monday, former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres posted a video on Instagram showing a raging river outside her home in Montecito.
"This is crazy!" she said in the video. "This creek next to our house never flows, ever. It's probably about nine feet up and is going to go another two feet up."
She also noted that she was told to shelter in place because her home was on higher ground.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Justin Sullivan/Staff
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
