It was dark and rainy, and Dr. Carlos Torres couldn't tell he was driving into raging floodwater along White Chapel Boulevard.
Until it was too late.
"We just went through this wall of water. It just came like a giant wave above the car," Torres said. "We were just trapped there, you know."
He was with his two daughters, trying to get home after dinner out.
"When I started to hyperventilate and just feel like I was going to die was when I felt the water rising up to my feet," said Fernanda Torres, 15. "It was insane."
And the water just kept rising.
Eventually it was above their seats.
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Fernanda's sister Marianna realized how dangerous it was.
"That's when I started crying," Marianna Torres said. "I was like this is becoming really real right now. It was so scary."
They called 911.
Firefighters arrived.
"In that instant I was like, 'I'm in a movie. This has to be like a movie,'" Marianna Torres said. "It was so surreal."
They couldn't roll down their windows because the car's electrical system wasn't working.
"The oxygen in the car was running out," Fernanda Torres said. "I really couldn't breathe."
Firefighters raced to extend a ladder across the water -- right up to the Torres' car.
"They broke the window and they were like, 'Hey, how are you guys?' And we're like, 'Not good,'" Marianna Torres said.
One by one, they crawled out of the car and across the ladder.
First Marianna. Then Fernanda. Then their dad.
Finally, they were safe.
And grateful for their rescuers.
"They are heroes for everybody, you know," Carlos Torres said.
"They were just really nice," Fernanda Torres said. "They were really amazing."
"I say thank you so much. You all, your work is fantastic," Marianna Torres said. "We are blessed to have people like you in this world."
Southlake Fire Chief Michael Starr humbly accepted the family's praise.
"Anytime we have an opportunity to save someone's life like that, it's a great feeling for our people," Starr said. "It's very rewarding. It's why we do what we do."
Firefighters from Haltom City assisted with the rescue. Southlake, Haltom City and other cities share a dive team and other resources.
