LOS FELIZ—On the afternoon of Thursday, October 15, a man was rescued from a storm drain near De Longpre Avenue and Hyperion Avenue.

At about 1:40 p.m., noises were reported coming out of the storm drain at the aforementioned intersection. Firefighters and an urban search and rescue team responded, throwing down a 30-foot rope to help the man escape. He pulled himself out and was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

A map of the LA storm drain system. The red box shows the intersection where the man was rescued; according to his story, he traveled there from the area at the bottom left corner of the map.
A map of the LA storm drain system. The red box shows the intersection where the man was rescued; according to his story, he traveled there from the area at the bottom left corner of the map.

The man claimed to have wandered about 2 miles while he was in the storm drains, from Beverly Boulevard and Vermont Avenue to the intersection in Los Feliz. It could not be confirmed if he actually traveled this distance, but looking at the map of the Los Angeles storm drain system, it appears possible. The man would have had to travel through drains maintained by the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. According to their website, the LACFCD “encompasses more than 3,000 square miles, 85 cities and approximately 2.1 million land parcels.”

The drain system contains channels up to 8 feet tall that a person could easily walk through. One could enter through a manhole, or an opening in the curb.

The reasons as to why and how the man ended up in the storm drain are unknown.