NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Floodwater pooled at the underpass on Canal Boulevard near Homedale Street as heavy rain swept the area on Monday, Sept. 4.

One New Orleans resident, Andrew Sieta, decided to take a shot at crossing the water after seeing an SUV make it through before him.

He was close to making it to the other side but unfortunately wasn’t able to, as his engine died and left him stranded in rising water.

He was eventually able to escape the car unharmed.

“My front two tires were on dry land, but water kept coming through the doors. Then I tried to push out on my doors. There was a struggle, but I was able to get out, and then I put my car in neutral, and I tried pushing it up, but there was too much water in the car and I had to just stop,” said Sieta.

Witnesses nearby watched as the water slowly rose, submerging the stranded car completely underwater.

“You hear about it so I’m kind of familiar with this area, so it wasn’t surprising but also I’ve never been here when it happened so it was a little crazy and a little chaotic,” said Allison Ruckert.

“I saw the canal flooded with water, and people were driving and the car stopped going, so it was really concerning actually,” said Hadi Younes.

Sieta claims, however, that there was nothing on the road to warn him of the danger ahead and thought that it was not as deep as it actually was.

“I didn’t really think anything of it when there wasn’t any barricade or the lights weren’t on especially after a car made it too. I thought it’d be easy for me too, but it really wasn’t,” said Sieta.

As the rain stopped, the drains did their work, swallowing the water and revealing the damaged car that was eventually towed away.

“It came out of nowhere. I was just shocked while it was happening when it happened and of course after it happened too, but you can’t really prepare for something like that,” said Sieta.

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