Man Saves Self From Flood After Rescue Hope Fades
As Glenn Grotegeers clung to a tree in Mississippi River floodwaters, swinging a life jacket over his head and screaming at a helicopter overhead, he felt sure he was headed for a made-for-TV rescue drama.
But then the helicopter passed and he knew he would have to rescue himself.
The 21-hour ordeal he was recounting began at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, when a downed tree rammed his boat head-on, dumping him into the water covering the soybean fields and cornfields surrounding his home.
Grotegeers, 42, a carpenter, decided to take matters into his own hands and swim out. He said he floated and swam 20 miles before he reached dry land and climbed out on a levee near the Corps of Engineers’ Lock 27, just north of St. Louis. He was lucky to be alive, Corps officials said.
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