Residents recount frightening flash flooding in New Brunswick, N.J.
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- The rain came down quickly and suddenly on Tuesday, trapping people in flood waters, including a 3-month-old baby, in New Brunswick.
Video shows what is looked like at the height of the downpour -- vehicles flipped around and under water.
In just a matter of minutes, one street turned into a river.
CBS New York spoke to a girl with her dad's permission. She described how her baby brother was saved after being swept away by the floodwater.
"I see my mom drowning with my little baby brother and my sister drowning. It had me really scared because it just happened randomly," Mia Sequeira said.
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It was an image the brave 12-year-old said she couldn't get out of her mind -- raging waters taking over her New Brunswick street and almost taking her entire family under.
"This happened so quickly," Mia said, as she was assured by her father that her brother was safe.
Her father added the little boy is at a hospital and doing fine, but it was quite an ordeal she went through just after 11 a.m. when a flash flood hit the area.
"Then I went under water to see if I could save my brother. Then, I was drowning, too," Mia said. "Then my cousin had the strength to get up and take my little brother."
The family was trying to escape their home when water rushed up to their front door on Drift Street.
"My sister was about to get stuck in the hole inside the house. My mom was screaming. I was just screaming for my baby brother," Mia said.
Some homes now have a vacate order after part of the basement walls caved in.
"It's crazy. I've never seen anything like this," Steve Spisso said.
For Spisso, flooding at his home on Drift Street was a first in his 18 years of owning.
"It's a rental. Unfortunately, I have a family that has been displaced because of it," Spisso said.
Spisso said he made sure his home is secure, adding despite the damage, "Tenants are okay. That's the most important thing."
The underground parking garage at Family Court also flooded. The rushing waters flipped parked cars around.
"I see the rain outside, but I didn't think this would happen right here," one person said.
Drivers said they were in shock as they discovered their soaked and damaged cars.
"My car is completely under water. It is flooded up until the steering wheel," Khrystian Taylor said.
"It was thunder, lightning, white wall of rain and then all of a sudden a river pouring down the road. Cars were flipping over," added Erica Jorgensen of New Brunswick.
At Newark Liberty Airport, once again the flight board was filled with delays and even cancellations, leaving passengers grounded.
