A panicked mother and her two kids were caught in a flash flood while coming home in a taxi.
Wilzamara Alves de Oliveira was shopping with her two children when she called for an Uber to take them home due to heavy rain.
But the streets filled with water in a matter of minutes and they were surrounded by fast-moving floodwater.
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Wilzamara said the driver opted to take another route but that was even worse.
She said: “When he made the turn, a strong flood came that swept the car away.”
Wilzamara, who was with her 15-year-old son and one-year-old daughter, filmed their feet submerged in the water inside the car.
The intensity of the rain increased as they drove through the Tirol neighbourhood in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte on Monday (24 Mar).
She said the driver tried to mount the pavement to avoid driving through the deep flood water on the street.
But the force of the flood prevented him and they quickly became stranded, as reported by Need To Know.
The desperate mother said: “I thought about my young daughter, because I can swim and hold my breath if necessary, but she can’t.
“I was desperate because of my little one.”
In despair, Wilzamara and the driver appealed to workers at a car repair workshop for help.
The mechanics helped bring them to safety before calming down the scared kids.
According to the mum, the Uber driver’s car was apparently a write-off .
She said water got into the engine and it wouldn’t start again.
Within minutes, the floodwater dissipated and the roads began to clear.
Wilzamara said: “The water went down in about five minutes, everything was clear and the day went back to normal.”
She waited at the workshop for another taxi to take the family home.
The mother said the Uber driver let her off the fee for the washed-out first trip and agreed to pay for the second cab.
On the same day, a 14-year-old girl was swept away by the flood water in Belo Horizonte’s Barreiro district.
She was holding on for dear life for about five minutes, barely able to breathe due to the rising water, before police officers rescued her.
The youngster was admitted to hospital in a serious condition.
Her father said: “She is in the intensive care unit.
“It is a difficult scene for a father, but she is doing fine and, God willing, she will get through this.”
