They got stuck in a flooded elevator

Four friends feared the worst when floodwaters in Omaha, Nebraska, crept into their elevator.

“The water was rising really fast and when I hit my belly button I called my roommate and said she wouldn’t open the doors,” Tony Lu told CNN.

“I knew I had to stay calm. I knew I would get nervous and lose control if I let myself act out,” he adds.

While he was telephoning his roommate, who ironically takes care of the building’s maintenance, one of the people stuck with him called 911 for help.

“I didn’t have time to think about a lot of things. I rushed to get there,” says Dylon Stubb.

When they arrived at the scene, Dylon and his brother Drayton immediately went to the basement. But the duo soon found themselves in a dangerous situation like their friend’s as the water reached shoulder height.

Meanwhile, the water level continued to rise. It now reached down to Tony Law’s chin, which is 5 feet 7 inches tall.

“That’s when I started to think I might die here,” he says.

While Tony Law was kicking the doors on one side, Dylon and Drayton tried to force them on the other side.

Ten minutes later, the doors finally closed.

We have tried everything to open the doors by force. We had to get them out of there, otherwise it would have been fatal,” Dylon notes.