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LAS VEGAS (KVVU/Gray News) - A Las Vegas family spent 13 hours in triple-digit heat to rescue kittens and their mother from a storm drain.

And after the hourslong ordeal, they were able to reunite the mother cat with her babies.

The situation happened near a neighborhood park in the northwest part of town this week.

Dana Hernandez said her daughter and husband were on an early morning walk when they heard crying coming from a storm drain.

“They saw the mama cat jump into the sewer. That caught my child’s attention, and my husband came over and saw the kittens,” she said.

Hernandez and her mother, Julie Woodward, said they called Las Vegas Animal Control several times, as well as the police department and the fire department.

As temperatures soared to 108 degrees Fahrenheit, the family members said they yanked off the storm drain to drop down water and food for the kittens and the mother.

“The mommy was very emaciated. We gave her two cans of food and she ate all of it. She was starving,” Woodward said.

Hernandez managed to crawl down the storm drain and pull out several of the kittens. The family took them to an emergency veterinarian, who said they were dehydrated and malnourished.

Animal control arrived that afternoon and with a small trap, they tried to retrieve the other cats still inside the drain.

Volunteers also stepped in to help and were able to pull out the additional kittens, but then the mother cat could not be found.

Late Friday night, Animal control officers dropped off another trap to help find the mother.

“They were probably in there for a couple of days. They’re very, very small,” Woodward said.

The family didn’t give up their efforts, either, and during the overnight hours, their mission was complete by locating the mother cat and reuniting her with her five kittens.

“She was very scared, but she is safe with all five of her kittens rescued. The babies cried all night long, but when we added momma into the room with them, they all stopped and started nursing,” Hernandez said.

The family said they plan to adopt all of the kittens.