With the waters continuing to rise as rain pounds the Houston-area following Hurricane Harvey, thousands of people have needed to be rescued from the life-threatening floods that have already killed at least 18 people. During Monday night’s broadcast of CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time, one evacuee told host Chris Cuomo her incredible rescue story.

Speaking to Cuomo from the floor of the Houston County Convention Center, which is serving as an emergency shelter, Dawn Coles recounted how she ended up on top of a pickup truck with her 3-year-old in her hands waiting for a helicopter to pick them up.

“Okay. Because the water was rising so high, and I had been calling 911 for days but they were so busy, and I seen the military helicopters were flying over, but unfortunately, I didn’t realize that you had to swim to them. I think a lot of the neighbors didn’t realize that you had to actually swim a mile or so to be rescued by the helicopter or the boats. So, unfortunately, I had to grab my baby and diapers, what I could, and try to swim and hopefully, hope that we could be picked up.”

A duly impressed Cuomo said he had heard of “mommy strength” before, but couldn’t believe that she swam through rushing flood waters for a mile with her young son and supplies in tow to get to the helicopter.

“There was a lot of wind and rain,” she explained. “There was a lot of wind and rain, you know, and I was on a mission for us to get up in the air. You know what I mean? Because, you know, I was just wanting to save my baby.

Coles let Cuomo that her child is doing fine before moving on to use the air time to put out an inquiry about her neighbor and friend, Connie Parker, as well as her dog Coco. At the end of the interview, Cuomo let her know that a producer would immediately get back with her to gather all of the information to help her find her friend and pet.

Watch the clip above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

—

Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]