During recent flooding at Evans Tire & Service Center in San Diego, California, a service advisor took it upon himself to help an elderly customer escape, Fox 5 San Diego reports.
The widespread rain seen in the San Diego area this past Saturday initially presented only a few puddles throughout the shop, but it wasn’t long before the entire street became flooded, and water was pushed into the building.
When the water began entering the shop, Service Advisor Joseph Savala led an elderly customer who was waiting to have her car serviced back to a dryer area of the store. But the water kept coming and made its way through the entire facility, rising to shin level, causing the woman to become worried.
“She asked me ‘How I am going to get to my car?’ And I told her I’ll carry her if I have to,” recalled Savala.
And that he did: A cell phone video from the time of the incident shows Savala carrying the customer through the flooded shop back to her vehicle.
“My grandmother raised me and if my grandma was in this situation, I hope someone would the same for her,” Savala explained.
This isn’t the first time Evans Tire & Service Center has experienced flooding, having reopened only three weeks ago after a storm in January wreaked havoc, requiring the shop to close down for a month to undergo repairs and renovations.
Having just implemented new machines after the previous flooding, Savala and the team acted fast: they moved computers to the top of counters and did what they could to save other equipment like tire machines.
Fortunately, the damage caused by this flooding was not nearly as destructive, and the business is set to reopen this week.
“Cleanup Monday morning and get everything rock and rolling for our customers,” Savala said after the incident.
