{"id":15321,"date":"2017-08-29T14:37:57","date_gmt":"2017-08-29T14:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=15321"},"modified":"2017-08-29T14:37:57","modified_gmt":"2017-08-29T14:37:57","slug":"dramatic-nighttime-rescues-in-flooded-houston-suburbs-as-harvey-rolls-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=15321","title":{"rendered":"Dramatic nighttime rescues in flooded Houston suburbs as Harvey rolls on"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Reuters<\/a>) \u2013\u00a0The mayday call went out near midnight to all members of the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department organizing rescue operations in the outskirts of Houston. There was a new emergency: Four of their own in peril.<\/p>\n

On a suburban street transformed into a rushing waterway by Tropical Storm Harvey, a firefighter heading out to save people stranded by the storm fell into floodwaters as he was boarding a boat.<\/p>\n

The firefighters turned all their attention to rescuing their fellow.<\/p>\n

Matt Perkins, a 21-year veteran of the fire department of Cy-Fair, short for Cypress-Fairbanks, listened intently to the progress from the mini-command post set up in his truck at a gas station.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are my guys out there. I want to make sure they are OK,\u201d he said as he listened to his radio.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommand Boat 21, do you need a helicopter at your location?\u201d a radio dispatcher said.<\/p>\n

A garbled response.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t understand your response,\u201d the dispatcher responded. \u201cYour mic is wet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hearing no response, the call became more urgent: \u201cRepeat. Do you need a helicopter at your location?\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally the radio crackled back to life: \u201cWe are extracted. The boat is tied to a tree. We are walking out with the military.\u201d<\/p>\n