RICHMOND, Va. -- Twenty years after she survived the remnants of Hurricane Gaston, JoAnna Korkos shared the harrowing experience that nearly claimed her life during the catastrophic flooding in Richmond on August 30, 2004.
Korkos, then a 24-year-old student at Virginia Commonwealth University, was caught in a deluge as she attempted to drive home to Prince George County.
The storm had stalled over the city, bringing Broad Street traffic to a standstill.
"I moved a block in an hour like there was nowhere for people to go, everything was just stopped," Korkos said. "The rain was deafening; you could not hear yourself think."
As the rain intensified, Korkos watched helplessly as the water level in her car rose, and the vehicles in front of her were swept away.
"It was just a scary moment, I’ve never seen anything like this. I thought I was going to die, that’s how scary it was," she said. "I just remember that the water was coming in my car, and I was watching it rise and trying to decide what I was going to do."
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In a critical moment, a bus pulled up beside her, and a wooden railroad tie floated between her car and the bus, preventing her from being washed away.
With rising water reaching her knees, Korkos called 911. A dispatcher instructed her to exit the car through the window.
"It was very Dukes of Hazzard style, climbing out the window, climbing across the hood," Korkos said.
A passenger on the bus helped Korkos climb aboard as the security camera captured her dramatic rescue.
The bus driver and passengers kept her safe for several hours until rescuers arrived by raft.
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"I can remember stepping out of the boat into just like this muck that was on the ground, because I was in flip flops, it was August, and I had lost my shoes, but the guy at the pizza place right there at 18th and Main, he took me into his shop," she said. "I bought the fire department a pizza, and he took me into his shop, washed my feet off, gave me two plastic bags and two rubber bands to wrap around my feet."
The pizza shop owner was able to drive her back home to Prince George County that night.
"I will never forget that, ever," Korkos said. "Looking back, I should have been scared, but 24-year-olds usually think they're pretty invincible."
She credited the kindness of strangers and prayers for her survival.
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