A California woman who didn't know how to swim stood on top of her submerged car for an hour before being rescued during flood

• A woman was stranded on top of her submerged car during a dangerous California flood, officials said.
• Lizbeth Hernandez was on top of her car for about an hour before officials rescued her.

An 18-year-old driver was stranded on top of her car for over an hour amid an atmospheric river storm that flooded California, according to a report.

Lizbeth Hernandez was rescued by local law enforcement in Watsonville, California on Friday after the floodwater pushed her car off the road, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. Officials said this resulted in her vehicle becoming submerged approximately 8 feet underwater, per the report.

The rescue comes in the midst of evacuations of residents in Santa Cruz County due to rivers rising, USA Today reported.

—The California National Guard (@CalGuard) March 10, 2023

Prior to being rescued, two people who were near the area where Hernandez was stranded saw her pleading for help in the freezing waters, according to the report. Minutes later, deputies from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office were at the scene to save her.

Lt. Shon Leonetti told the outlet that Hernandez "was experiencing numbness in her lower extremities so we just kept talking to her and keeping her informed that help is coming and just trying to do our best to keep her focused."

Due to Hernandez not being able to swim, local water rescue officials had to assist her out of the moving water and give her medical treatment, the Sentinel reported. Per the outlet, she was brought to safety two hours after her car sunk.

"If it would have been much longer, she would have probably gone in and she doesn't swim so it would have been a bad result," Leonetti told the outlet.