EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. — A fundraising page for an Excelsior Springs, Missouri officer whose car was submerged in flood waters has exceeded its goal.

For Officer in Charge Amy Hermosillo, her car is her pride and joy.

“It was very much my baby,” Hermosillo said. “I know everybody at the police department knows it.”

The three-year veteran was coming into work early Friday morning, as the city experienced flash flooding, leading to water rescues and road closures.

Before even getting to work, Hermosillo spotted an older man stuck in a car with the high water rushing all around him.

“I told him I said, ‘Help is on the way.’ Luckily, we got him out before there was any other injuries,” Hermosillo said.
           
She parked her car in the lot near the police department and immediately got to work, before her shift was even supposed to start.

“I got called out to a house that a tree fell on, and basically when I got back within like five or six minutes my car was all the way submerged under water,” Hermosillo said. “And there was nothing I could do about it, so I just kept on working.”

Seeing her car submerged, her colleague, Sergeant Ryan Dowdy, knew he had to help

“We all know how much her car means to her, and just with COVID-19 and all the things that we’ve been through lately, we’re short-staffed, working a lot of hours, I figured that that was kind of my chance to help her out, maybe at least pay for a deductible,” Dowdy said.

Dowdy started a GoFundMe page Monday with the goal of raising $1,100.

He says the page hit that in less than 24 hours, and many of the donations came from the community, families who themselves are still dealing with flooding aftermath.

“They always come though, whether it’s the storms, or COVID-19, or whatever, they come through, they support us as police officers in that community big time,” Dowdy said.

After all, sometimes even police officers need rescuing.

“Having the community have my back, it means so much,” Hermosillo said.