The speed at which the Ellicott City flood waters were moving made them potentially lethal, but even after recovering from one fall, Barnes refused to leave a woman trapped in her car.
http://www.wbaltv.com/news/toy-shop-owner-risks-life-to-save-woman-from-ellicott-city-flood/40977000
Had any one of the people in this human chain been swept into a hard object, the waters could have easily trapped and inundated them. Although it doesn't look it, this was the real deal.
Wow! Thanks guys!