Surviving Flood After Car Dragged By Current, This Man Hangs On Tree For 6 Hours

A view of the overflowing Todd River in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, November 10, 2021, in this still image taken from video on social media. (ANTARA/Alice Woods via Reuters/as)

JAKARTA - A man was forced to hang on to a tree for more than six hours after floods dragged his car off a road in Australia's Northern Territory state, local media reported Wednesday, November 10.

According to police, the man was driving near the Todd River in Alice Springs when the floodwaters hit his car after 24 hours of heavy rains.

Craig Laidlaw, Assistant Commissioner of the Northern Territory, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) the man managed to get out of the car and cling to a tree to wait for help.

To prevent others from becoming victims, police said it took more than six hours for firefighters to rescue the man before noon local time (0800 GMT), according to the ABC.

"They put on a sled, and they managed to save him when the water level started to drop", Laidlaw said.

Laidlaw said the man was fine but would be checked at a local hospital, according to the ABC.