Fire inspector washed off PCH by mudslide tells how he survived: "It came out of nowhere"
When a mudslide pushed his SUV off a cliff and into the ocean earlier this month, Los Angeles Fire Department Inspector Jerry Kao said he thought about how dying would affect his family — and what he could do to survive.
On Feb. 13, a powerful rainstorm over the Southern California region brought flash floods and mudslides to Los Angeles County as people were evacuated from their homes and several roads closed. In Malibu, the Pacific Coast Highway was shut down as forecasters warned the wildfire-torn hillsides were especially vulnerable to mud and debris sliding over them and onto the roadway.
Kao was driving along the PCH, just north of La Tuna Canyon, when he said a mudslide "came out of nowhere."
"It came up and over onto the roadway and just slammed against the passenger side of my car, and with such force, it ended up pushing me across all three lanes," Kao said. "I remember just feeling very upset in the moment and just the thought of leaving behind my kids, not being a father anymore to them, and leaving my wife behind — the whole burden of everything."
"I said out loud in the car, it was odd, but I said out loud in the car, 'I'm not gonna die in this car today,'" he said, recounting the harrowing experience in a video posted by LAFD spokesperson Erik Scott.
"There was a lot of loud banging," Kao said. "The car came to a sudden crash on the beach. I couldn't see still. It was nothing but mud."
His SUV ended up on the shore, completely covered in mud with oceanwater washing over it, as it flipped on its side and back down again. Kao said he believed the drop was about 15 feet but was later told it was actually about 30 feet. As the SUV kept moving around, he said he was "mentally preparing to take one last breath in case the windows burst," which would've led to the car getting flooded inside.
"I think it was just the mental state of knowing I was going to do whatever I could to get back to my family," Kao said.
He tried figuring out how to get out while not letting the inside of the car get flooded with mud and water, saying he had to be patient and not just open the doors right away. He pulled out a knife and used it to slash the air bags that had been deployed so he could look out the windows.
At that point, he could see the highway and said it felt like the SUV had finally "settled" after being pushed around on the shoreline.
"In that moment, I saw my window of opportunity," Kao said, saying he the forced open the door.
"As soon as I stepped out of the vehicle, I sank past my knees in the mud," Kao said. "I didn't realize it would be that deep."
He climbed up the ledge leading up to the highway and took out his cellphone to call dispatch. Then, he called his wife, which he called "the hardest call."
"Because I know how it stresses her out equally, if not more so," he said.
"Now, being a father of four kids and a husband, I kind of live with more appreciation of them, even more so. It just feels a little bit surreal when I drop my daughter off at school," Kao said. "I almost feel like it could've been a different version of how this played out, and I wouldn't have been able to do that."
