MONROE, Wash. — Rescue divers aided by a drone are to credit with saving the life of a man who fell into the dark, frigid and fast-moving flood waters for nearly five miles along the Snohomish River near Monroe on Dec. 5.
Chris Robl, a father of two, is still processing his near-death experience.
“I swam like I’ve never swam in my freaking life. My wife my kids my family my friends – all that shows up to help pour coal in the fire,” Robl said.
His story starts more than four miles upstream – on his property in Monroe. On Tuesday evening, Robl was moving yard furniture to higher ground and was going after a green tarp just a few feet off shore when the small, metal, and rudderless boat he was in was swept away.
“It caught me. I found myself in it. It was over before it started. It was done,” he said.
Drone footage captured by Sky Valley Fire’s Assistant Fire Chief Ernie Walters shows the heat signature from rescue divers at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday evening.
An atmospheric river has pounded the region earlier this week, flooding the Skykomish River, which feeds into the Snohomish River, and several other cities and rivers in western Washington.
But from the Skykomish River comes a 911 call from Robl on a boat with no motor. He's out of control and drifting down stream into the Snohomish River and needs to be rescued.
“From when I first made contact with the drone, he was in total darkness. But with my camera, my drone, I was able to see him quite clearly,” Walters said.
Rescue crews shut down a portion of Highway 522 over the river and tossed the man a line. In process of grabbing it, he's thrown into the water.
“I remember disappearing," Robl said. "I remember the screaming stopping because I was under, and I remember the emergency lights kind of disappearing from under – and it’s quick, it’s instant. It’s over before it starts.”
“It was challenging trying to make access to the rivers edge, we’ve had heavy chest deep brush with water running underneath us so it just made it really challenging,” said Lt. Joe Virnig, a resuce swimmer for Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue.
Virnig was standing along the shoreline and dove after the man overboard once he lost control of the rescue line.
“What did help was he was screaming out for help so I was locate his voice and put myself in a position to make a good rescue,” Virnig said.
From the drone, rescue swimmers are seen reaching the man. “If I can just get my hands on this victim and let him know, try to do some sort of reassurance, that ‘I’m with you we’re going to walk through this together and get you out of here,” Virnig said.
Tonight, that boater is safe and warm. Though the water levels still high and dangerous, the rescue is a win for first responders.
“Luck has some factor into it," Walters said. "But, it also factors in with all these professionals that have trained hours and hours."
Robl agreed to speak with KING 5 because he said he wants everyone watching to appreciate how dangerous moving water can really be.
When asked what he would have done differently, Robl said he never should have stepped foot in the water until after the weather system had passed.