Stuck Staten Island residents ask local leaders for rescue

[KamaAina]

Source: Yahoo! News

The storm caused by Hurricane Sandy has downed trees, flooded homes and damaged streets in the New York City borough of Staten Island. On the island's south shore, trapped residents, some of whom ignored evacuation orders, pleaded with local officials on Facebook to send help to their flooded homes.

Many families were stuck in their attics as they retreated from the rising flood waters, while some even less fortunate were forced to seek help from their rooftops. "Family of 5 trapped on 2nd fl since yesterday included fireman and baby," one Facebook poster wrote on Staten Island City Councilman James Oddo's Facebook page, adding the specific address. "2 adults 2 dogs trapped since yesterday in the attic please help," another person wrote. Oddo wrote that he would pass on the many addresses posted on his page to Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the city's emergency management services. Many people could not get through to 911 last night because the system was so overloaded with calls--about 20,0000 per hour--and were thus trying Facebook and Twitter as a last resort.

Mio Delgado, a former New York City EMT who now lives in North Carolina, tells Yahoo News she has yet to hear if her family members who are trapped in a two-story home on Midland Beach have been rescued. The water had risen to the second floor of the house Monday night, and Delgado's grandmother, father, sister, and the sister's two young children gathered in the attic to escape the flood. Delgado's sister heard her neighbors yelling, "I don't want to die, somebody please help us" as the hours wore on. When Delgado's sister finally got through to 911 on her cell phone, a dispatcher told her first responders were only able to rescue people stuck on their roofs, and would return for them later. As of Tuesday morning, when Delgado lost contact with her sister, the family was still trapped inside their home....

According to the Daily News, an off duty police officer, a 13-year-old girl, and a father and son have all been found dead on Staten Island so far. The 13-year-old girl's father, a plumber, is missing.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/staten-island-tanker-runs-aground-homes-flooded-143446553.html

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This could get a whole lot worse...

[dipsydoodle]

1. The moral here

is to not ignore evacuation orders.

[uppityperson]

2. And to help each other.

[slackmaster]

3. Anyone who didn't learn that lesson from Hurricane Katrina is probably not teachable

[KamaAina]

6. Do you know that all these people were in Zone A?

NYC has three zones for evacuation, A, B and C. Only Zone A was under an evacuation order.

[dipsydoodle]

7. Its in the narrative of the link in the OP

that some were.

[KamaAina]

12. But not all?

I've heard that, at first, both Zones A AND B were going to be evacuated. What happened?

[mysuzuki2]

4. Yes people should not ignore evacuation orders but

to be fair not everyone has a place to go or the means to get there.

[Kablooie]

13. Weren't there evacuation shelters specifically for these people?

[RobertEarl]

5. But I read it was hysteria

...hysteria to claim that this storm was gonna be the worst.

Now where are the peckerheads who were claiming that 4 days ago??

Maybe for the next storm, when the scientists state the science, people will listen?

[HooptieWagon]

8. I agree. I doubt these were people unable to evacuate.

These were likely mouth-breathing neanderthals who didn't like gov't officials telling them what to do, or thought the storm warnings were a Obama conspiracy.

I may be wrong... if I am, and these are people with no transportation or finances to evacuate, then I will retact my statement and issue an apology.

[RobertEarl]

9. They are denialists

They denied the science telling them the storm was going to be as bad as it is. They are sure to be denialist of GW, too.

Our tolerance, as Liberals, of their denialism, is wearing thin. But what else can we do but offer them education? And this is a teachable moment. Well, teachable for the ones who've survived.

[femmocrat]

10. And has Chris Christie attacked Mayor Bloomberg over these people who stayed?

Like he attacked the democratic mayor of Atlantic City?

[KamaAina]

11. You mean Mayor Lorenzo Langford?

Of course, Staten Island is in NY, not NJ. But NY gov Andrew Cuomo hasn't ripped into Bloomie, either -- despite the fact that the two are bitter enemies.