74-year-old rescued from flooded Cobo Center tunnel

DETROIT (WJBK) - A 74-year-old driver was rescued from the flooded Cobo Center tunnel in Detroit Tuesday morning after she went around a roadblock.

The roadblock was set up at westbound Jefferson Avenue at The Lodge. The woman ended up stalled in a pond of rain water and raw sewage that was waist high. 

We were at the scene of the flooding when the woman drove past our live truck into the closed-down tunnel just before 8 a.m. Another car followed behind.

Moments later, that driver came back and told FOX 2's Robin Murdoch that the elderly woman was in trouble. We called 911.

Detroit police, EMS and Detroit Fire arrived at the scene immediately, trying to figure out the best way to help her while dealing with the health hazard.

The woman eventually made it out of her car on her own and was able to wade through the water to a waiting firefighter. You can watch video of the rescue in the video player above. 

"She's a little afraid; she's very frightened, of course. She says she was on her way to work. She works there at the post office and she was kind of a little disoriented. She's okay now," says Lt. Sonia Russell with Detroit Police Department.

Emergency crews then took her to Detroit Recieving Hospital to be decontaminated -- basically rinsed off because her body was saturated in that raw sewage. Emergency crews also had to be decontaminated, and Robin Murdoch and our photographer, Rich Roethler, were rinsed off with a fire hose. 

The woman's name was not given, and it's unclear at this time if she ignored the roadblock or wasn't aware it was there. Authorities are reminding drivers to pay attention to roadblocks and to abide by them as they're there for everyone's safety.

Portions of every major freeway around metro Detroit were flooded Tuesday morning after heavy overnight rains.

The FOX 2 Weather Authority Team says the Detroit area saw 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rain. Flood warnings and advisories were issued for much of the southern Lower Peninsula.

Areas near Jackson, Mich. saw as much of 5 inches of rain.