Photo: San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office
A kindergartner who was swept away during a severe flood in California has been named as authorities resume their search.
The child was riding in a vehicle with his mother on the way to school in San Miguel, California, whenthe car got stuckon Monday around 7:45 a.m. local time, his father told KSBY.
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office
San Miguel Joint Union School District Superintendent Karen Grandoli tells PEOPLE that Doan’s mother, Lindsy Doan, is a teacher at Lillian Larsen Elementary School, where Kyle also attends.
“San Miguel is a small, very close-knit community and everyone has the family in their thoughts and prayers during this unfathomable tragedy,” Grandoli tells PEOPLE in a statement. “The family and others are continuing to search for him in hopes that he might be found.”
She adds, “The staff at Lillian Larsen has begun organizing support for the family. We are determining what their immediate needs are at this time. The school will have a crisis team made up of counselors on campus to support students and staff as soon as the school reopens which will hopefully be tomorrow. Like most districts in San Luis Obispo county, we are closed today due to the severe weather and dangerous road conditions.”
She continues, “The family is continuing to search for him in hopes that he might be found. Staff is beginning to organize support for the family. We are determining what their immediate needs are at this time.”
Kyle Doan.San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office
After roughly five hours of looking for Kyle, authorities paused their search due to dangerous weather conditions that “were making it unsafe for first responders to continue their efforts,” per the news briefing.
“A break in the intense storms is allowing today’s search which will involve all available resources of the Sheriff’s Office including the USAR (Underwater Search and Rescue) Team and air operations,” police added, noting that the weather is still “extremely dangerous.”
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“The water level is high and continues to be fast-moving,” said police. “The public is strongly cautioned not to conduct self-initiated searches and put themselves in harms way and become a victim requiring resources that would otherwise be used for searching.”
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tony Cipolla told PEOPLE on Monday, “We assisted in the search for the child. We called out the sheriff’s dive team to assist with the search and they searched for multiple hours without locating the child.”
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He added that “around 3:00 Pacific time, they discontinued the search because the extreme weather was too unpredictable and it was endangering the first responders' lives. They made the decision to discontinue it. Hopefully there will be a break in the weather and they can resume the search for this child.”
Cambria Community Services District Fire Chief Justin Vincent previously toldThe Tribunein San Luis Obispo that authorities have only founda child’s shoeat the scene.
source: people.com
