Trapped in her minivan in rising floodwater on Friday in San Fernando, an elderly woman prayed for God to send angels to her rescue.

Myrtle Benjamin told Newsday that God responded to her cries by sending the fire officers, whom she called angels.

They toted her out of her van' window and carried her through the floodwater to safety.

Benjamin, who is in her 70s, added, "The water kept coming up, and the rain would not stop. Cars were passing in the water. After the van shut down, I tried to open the door. I could not find my cell phone to call anybody. I later found it in the back seat in a bible."

[caption id="attachment_973109" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Fire officers from the Mon Repos Fire Station rescue Myrtle Benjamen from her car that stranded in floodwaters on the San Fernando By-pass Road on Friday. - Lincoln Holder[/caption]

Benjamin, who lives in Marabella, as well as another driver, Timothy Mohammed, 24, from Siparia, escaped death while trying to drive through floods on the San Fernando By-pass Road near the roundabout near South Park on Friday afternoon.

Mohammed was driving behind Benjamin shortly before 2 pm when the floodwater washed his car into a river. He managed to get out before the water pushed his car further into the river.

"It is a good thing I did not see when that happened because I would have panicked," Benjamin said.

But she saw Mohammed walking through the floodwater.

She praised Mohammed and an eyewitness, Allan Moonah, for offering her words of encouragement during the ordeal.

Benjamin added, "They kept telling me to stay calm and not worry. They told me not to open the door."

She was stranded for about 30 minutes before Mon Repos fire officers responded.

Benjamin and Mohammed were heading towards Marabella.

The pensioner told Newsday that she was on her way to visit a friend in La Brea.

While on the By-pass Road near Rushworth Street, the rain started falling heavier, and part of the road was flooded.

She spoke to her husband, who suggested that she return home out of an abundance of caution.

It was on her way home that her van stalled.

Mohammed recalled two vans drove past him, causing the floodwater to push his car off the road.

[caption id="attachment_973108" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Myrtle Benjamin speaks to media from the safety of the front seat of a fire services van after she was rescued from her own car that stalled in floodwaters on the San Fernando By-pass on Friday. - Lincoln Holder[/caption]

He managed to get out before it was swept into a nearby river. The car got stuck upside down on a pipeline.

Mohammed said he was going to a credit union in Marabella to do business. He managed to get out before the fire and police officers arrived at the scene.

"Water was soaking in the car. I lived on this side for about a year and had never seen the water this high," he said as he watched the ruins of his car.

The road was impassable for over an hour before the water subsided and traffic flowed freely.

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