A life saved on a washed out road

COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - From major snow storms to major flooding, West Michigan is getting beaten up by Mother Nature.

One of the hardest hit areas has been Van Buren County. If you plan on driving in Covert Township, steer clear of County Road 378, flooding caused a big chunk of that road to simply wash away, and it nearly cost one man his life.

The waters came hard and fast, weather conditions mounted over the month of December and culminated at just the right moment to wash the road out and flood the area.

"72 inches of snow just in December," said Larry Hummel of the Van Buren County Road Commission, "and over the weekend just about two and a half inches of rain."

When the road washed away, Verizon phone lines went with it, knocking out service for about 900 people and two power plants. A water line was damaged as well, causing many in Covert to lose water, but the greatest price was nearly paid by one man.

"A gentleman was on his way to work and he was making a call about the water that was up to the road or eating away at it," said Hummel, "it actually caved in when he was crossing it."

Luckily, another man, John Latham, was on his way to work at the same time.

"I saw his headlights go out like, just gone," Latham said, "and I'm thinking, 'what did I just see?'"

As Latham approached, he saw the ravine, which was only 20 feet across at the time; then he saw a car with a man trapped inside and icy flood waters rushing in.

"I realized that he was in trouble and I had to do something because I would want someone to help me," Latham said.

The victim was able to climb out the back-hatch of his car, but was still marooned by rapid waters.

"I just ran up as fast as I could and I reached in and grabbed him and drug him up on the road," Latham said, "and as I was grabbing him the car, just left, gone."

Seconds later, Latham says another rush of water came.

"I heard cracking and trees falling," Latham said, "just one big whoom and the road was gone."

The car washed down Brandy Wine Creek and emergency crews still haven't found it, but the man Latham pulled from his car is home safe with his family.

Verizon told Newschannel 3 that it hopes to have service restored to those 900 customers by midnight Monday, as for County Road 378, the future is much less clear. Road commissioners told us that it will be at least three to four weeks before the road is drivable again.