Survivors of a flash flood that killed a Florida man Saturday evening are telling a harrowing story and want to set the record straight. Bill Schmitt, 65, the brother of victim Earl Schmitt, 76, said he and his brother had flown out from Florida to bury their brother Carl Schmitt, 70, a resident of Yucca Mesa, who passed away January 29.
They drove up Yucca Mesa Road to their late brother’s house at about 2 p.m. It was raining but the wash was not swollen, and they crossed the wash with no problem. Later, at about 5:25, the two men and Bill’s wife, Saundra, went to get something to eat. Earl insisted on driving. They approached the wash from the north. Bill said there were no barricades, emergency vehicles, or any other indication that the wash posed a danger.
As they approached the now rain-swollen wash, Bill yelled at Earl to stop. The car stopped about 10 feet into the wash; as they reversed, a wave of water churned down the wash, turning the car and trapping it on its side against a boulder in the water. Bill said he climbed to the back seat, and went out a window and was washed down a good distance away. He made his way back to the car, freeing his wife out the same rear window and getting her to safety. Another wall of water crashed into the car and flipped it upside down. Bill made his way back to the car to try to save his brother; by then the water was to the top of the upside-down car, the airbags had deployed, and the doors were locked, trapping Earl inside. Knowing he was helpless, Bill banged on the car, told Earl he loved him, and made his way to where his wife was still clinging to a bush, and helped her to safety.
A passerby in a Jeep brought them to the road where he was interviewed by a Sheriff’s deputy. Schmitt faulted harsh treatment by the deputy, and a lack of safety measures around the wash. He vehemently denied they ever went around any barriers, saying the report that they did is based on hearsay. He is asking for anyone who witnessed the incident to contact him through Z107.7.
