Dramatic video captured the terrifying instant a woman was dramatically washed down a flooded New York City street by raging torrents, leaving onlookers stunned as a brave bystander desperately tried to pull her to safety.
The heart-stopping clip, which has gone viral on social media with nearly two million views, shows the woman – dressed in a bright pink crop top and matching bottoms – clinging desperately to yellow railings at what appears to be a flooded transit stop or underpass during heavy downpours that battered the Big Apple on Thursday.
As powerful floodwaters surged around her, the slim woman lost her footing and was violently swept off her feet, tumbling and sliding helplessly down the street. A man in a blue shirt lunged forward in a heroic bid to grab her, but the ferocious current proved too strong, carrying her rapidly away towards a waiting bus with its doors open.
The incident comes as torrential rains hammered New York City, turning streets into rivers, flooding subway stations, and overwhelming the city's drainage system. Severe thunderstorms dumped heavy rain across the boroughs late Wednesday into Thursday, with videos emerging of buses ploughing through waist-deep water and commuters wading through flooded areas.
