New Jersey driver survives two kilometre ride through storm drain

Emergency personnel search for a Toyota Prius that was swept away after a driver tried to drive through floodwaters. AP Photo / Tariq Zehawi, The Record

A New Jersey woman survived a harrowing 2km-long ride through a storm drain after flash floods swept her and her Toyota Prius into the drainage system.

A canal where a Toyota Prius was swept away in New Jersey before emergency services located it 1.6km away. AP Photo / Tariq Zehawi, The Record

Passaic Fire Chief Patrick Trentacost said Nathalia Bruno, of Newark, attempted to drive through deep and fast-moving water dumped by a powerful storm on July 6 when her car began to fill with water and float.

Bruno, 24, escaped from her vehicle before it filled with water but was pulled into a brook that runs beneath Passaic, the North Jersey Herald reported.

Emergency personnel found the Toyota Prius still wedged in the stormwater drain. AP Photo / Tariq Zehawi, The Record

Rutherford Police Chief John Russo said Bruno eventually was "shot out" of the drain into the Passaic River and swam across to the other side of the river.

"She was stunned," Russo said. "She was out of it. In shock. She really didn't know what happened to her."

Bruno was taken to a hospital for treatment but was not seriously injured.

- AP

Nathalia Bruno, 24, of Newark, returns to see her car in the storm drain. AP Photo / Tariq Zehawi, The Record