00:00And there was a startling discovery at a popular Rockland County restaurant.
00:04Dozens of young schoolgirls unexpectedly emerged from a drain in the patio
00:09after taking an unauthorized trek underground.
00:13Naveen Dhaliwal has this story from Nyack.
00:16What started as an ordinary day for Hudson House restaurant owner Matt Hudson in Nyack
00:21quickly turned into something he never expected.
00:23I was in the office when we heard kids chattering.
00:28Where is that coming from?
00:30What he found was astonishing.
00:31Dozens of young girls climbing out of a drain where a creek runs under
00:35in the courtyard behind his restaurant.
00:37So sure enough, we came back here into the patio, looked here, and it was filling up with kids.
00:43They were fine, you know, but they were excitedly talking.
00:47They were happy to be getting out of here.
00:48According to Mayor Joe Rand, the girls were part of a school trip visiting Nyack Memorial Park
00:53when they entered this massive drainage tunnel, which collects much of the village's stormwater runoff.
00:58So they saw the culvert, they saw the cave, and they thought, let's go take a look, see what's there.
01:04And they started walking, and they just kept walking, walking, walking.
01:07The mayor says the group traveled roughly half a mile through the dark culvert on rocks and uneven terrain
01:13before safely finding the exit at the restaurant.
01:16Everybody was safe, and I'm so grateful for that.
01:19I'm grateful for the first responders.
01:20But it was dangerous.
01:21They shouldn't have been doing it because it's cloudy now.
01:23We could have gotten rain this afternoon, and if it rains, this thing gets much more powerful,
01:28and the water could have really picked up on them.
01:30For Hudson, it's a day he won't forget.
01:32We've been here almost 36 years, as I mentioned, and we thought we saw it all, but no, no, there's
01:38still some surprises here.
01:40The mayor says he'll be reviewing safety measures at this culvert site,
01:44and he's reminding residents and visitors that drainage culverts are not for recreational use.
01:50In Nyack, Naveen Dhaliwal, CBS News, New York.
01:54Wow, just thankful they're okay.
