A teenager is lucky to be alive after being swept away by storm water runoff in Anniston Saturday.

According to the Anniston Star, the 15-year-old boy was swept into a drainage culvert beneath Quintard Avenue.

The teen had apparently gone into the water near Wendy’s at 15th Street and then traveled under both lanes of Quaintard.

On the other side, 42-year old Lelanea McGee-Hall and her mother had stopped into a nearby shopping center to pick up a pizza, when they noticed what was going on.

McGee-Hall helped to pull the teen from the ditch near Rite-Aid.

She said the boy was scratched and bleeding, and his hands injured from holding on against the force of the current.

The drainage system runs mostly underground through downtown, channeling storm runoff south, where it eventually drains into a Creek south of Oxford.

Anniston Assistant Fire Chief David Randle told the newspaper that people should stay away from storm runoff, adding the water may not look deep, but if it’s running swift it can sweep you off your feet.

The National Weather Service says as much as six inches of rain fell on parts of Calhoun County between Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

(Anniston Star)