Missing 5-year-old boy was pulled from mother's arms in California floodwater - CNN

CNN  — 

As cardinal California floodwater swept distant their SUV Monday morning, 5-year-old Kyle Doan, present missing, encouraged his mother.

“Don’t worry, Mommy,” the lad said, his father, Brian Doan, recalled Wednesday.

“He wasn’t rather processing what was going on,” Doan told CNN. “But helium was truthful calm talking to my woman portion they were inactive successful the car.”

A almighty storm, among the latest to battle the West Coast, has turned streets into rivers and forced the closure of large roadways successful California. Nearly 20 lives person been lost during a bid of storms successful caller weeks that a spokesperson for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services connected Wednesday called “one of the deadliest disasters successful the past of our state.”

Authorities person been searching for Kyle connected and disconnected since Monday. Over 100 National Guard members arrived astatine the country to assistance hunt for the missing kid connected Wednesday, and much troops are arriving to assistance Thursday, the county’s sheriff said.

Kyle’s mother, a peculiar acquisition teacher astatine the aforesaid schoolhouse successful the San Luis Obispo County colony of San Miguel wherever helium attends kindergarten, managed to region the lad from his car spot arsenic floodwater overwhelmed their SUV connected the mode to their school.

“‘Just yourself. Not your backpack. Leave it,’” she told him arsenic they prepared to escape, according to Doan.

Kyle’s ma held onto him, arsenic water poured implicit the debased constituent successful the agrarian roadworthy and began propelling the vehicle.

Pieces of debris mixed with the mounting floodwater as Kyle’s ma clutched the boy, on with a tiny purse with IDs and her phone.

“She tried to clasp connected to him and it was hard to stabilize things with the current,” Doan said. “And they got separated.”

No 1 tin question her actions, helium insisted.

“She made the champion decisions she could,” Doan said, his dependable breaking. “I got to support stressing that. She couldn’t enactment successful the car with him. The flows were going to overpower the car aboriginal on… They got out. That was the close happening to do.”

The parent described the harrowing infinitesimal her kid slipped distant from her aft they got retired of the car.

“I was fundamentally astatine that constituent hugging the histrion and trying to drawback Kyle’s hands, but the existent pushed Kyle retired and our hands slipped,” Lindsy Doan told CNN affiliate KSBY.

The SUV was aboriginal recovered upside down and covered successful mud and debris, Doan said. The parent was pulled safely retired of the water.

The hunt for Kyle continued connected Wednesday, with assistance from different instrumentality enforcement agencies, aft it was halted the erstwhile day owed to debased visibility. The archetypal hunt had been suspended Monday day due to the fact that of terrible weather, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.

Crews combing done the country with K-9 dogs were focusing chiefly downstream from wherever the parent was rescued and wherever Kyle was past seen, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Commander Michael Manuele told KSBY.

Video from the country showed rescuers examining an SUV that was partially submerged successful mud and debris Wednesday.

Brian Doan lamented that helium isn’t hopeful.

“The hard happening to accidental to a batch of radical astatine this constituent successful clip is, it’s not a rescue. It’s a recovery,” helium said, his dependable breaking again. “And that’s thing nary genitor wants to admit. And I benignant of knew it aft the archetypal night… And it’s a hard, hard concept, particularly erstwhile it’s your kid.”

Doan said nary 1 has officially called the hunt a betterment operation.

“I’ve seen enough, you know. It’s tough,” helium said. “You cognize what the likelihood are. And arsenic overmuch arsenic radical effort to beryllium optimistic – and I’m supportive for my woman – it’s hard. The archetypal nighttime was damn hard – conscionable thinking, ‘Oh my God, wherefore couldn’t they person recovered him already?’”

The past twelvemonth has been a hard 1 for Kyle, his begetter said. The lad tripped and fell successful preschool and suffered an wounded that required country and the placement of rods successful his fractured leg.

“He was bully astir it,” Doan recalled. “He was precise adaptable. He started walking astir a mates months aft that. It was conscionable similar cipher knew helium had rods successful his leg.”

In November, the rods were removed. There was a six-week healing play and restrictions connected his question were present ending. Kyle was anxious to commencement schoolhouse connected Monday aft the vacation break.

“He’s a large kid and helium liked to dance,” Doan said. “He was precise talkative, precise outgoing. He liked to beryllium silly and trying to get attraction successful each those ways that a five-year-old likes to do. He likes to play shot and helium liked his Paw Patrol.”

He added, “He was conscionable looking guardant to getting backmost to school.”