Child rescued after being washed away by rain in the Santa Ana River

A toddler who got too close to the rain-flooded Santa Ana River in Santa Ana was rescued Sunday after being swept away, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.

Officials received the call around 2:05 p.m. from the area of ​​Fairview Street and the Santa Ana Riverbed, firefighters wrote on Twitter. The boy’s father got into the water to try to rescue him but couldn’t. Firefighters did not release the boy’s age or other details about why he was near the river.

A passerby saw the boy floating down the river and rescued him, according to authorities. A response from Swift Water Rescue was launched; the boy was treated by paramedics and transported to a hospital in stable condition.

“While we have a break from the rain, there is still or may be water flowing in waterways throughout Orange County,” firefighters wrote on Twitter. “We strongly recommend that everyone stay away. It doesn’t take a lot of water to wash people downstream, where there are a lot of dangerous hazards.”

Storms ripped through California last week, causing flooding and power outages in northern and central California. Southern California is expected to see more rain this week with the upcoming atmospheric river storm.