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Pa. volunteers lend a hand to help rescue Irene victims
NEW CASTLE, Pa.
Many local residents watched the destruction of Hurricane Irene on TV from the safety of their living rooms.
But some Lawrence County residents experienced the hurricane’s fury firsthand, helping evacuate residents and even risking their lives to rescue a woman from flooding in Norristown, Pa., county commissioners learned at their meeting Tuesday.
Brian Melcer, Lawrence County director of Public Safety, told commissioners that a Swiftwater Rescue Team from Neshannock Township was a part of the Region 13 water rescue group which was called up by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to assist local fire and police rescue teams.
Region 13 consists of 13 Western Pennsylvania counties and the city of Pittsburgh.
The group left at 6 a.m. Aug. 27 as the storm approached, joined a convoy in Somerset, Pa., then traveled to Harrisburg, where they were briefed by Gov. Tom Corbett and Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley.
The local group was then sent to the Philadelphia area where they were stationed at a Pennsylvania National Guard facility.
Rick Russo, owner of Lanigan’s, a local restaurant, and a member of the Neshannock Fire Department, spoke on behalf of the four members of the department who went on the trip.
He told those at the commissioners meeting that the group was told it had to be self-sustaining, bringing its own food and supplies, and might have to sleep on the ground.
The group was sent to assist the Norristown team, which was overwhelmed with calls. At 2 a.m., they were called to rescue a homeless woman who had been sleeping in a creek bed and was trapped in floodwaters.
Russo said the woman was in a wooded area that had floodwaters rushing through it.
He said the team wore flotation devices and waded about 200 yards into the woods, with the water at times up to 5 feet deep.
The trees were too close together to use a boat and he said when the rescuers went into deep waters, they would lose their footing because of the flotation devices.
He said they could hear the woman screaming for help but could not see her. They kept calling until they located her and saw her clinging to a tree, appearing to be at the end of her strength.
He and a team member from Norristown got to the woman, put a flotation device on her and placing her between them, made their way back to dry land.
Russo said the local group also helped with evacuations and even rescued a rescue boat which had broken up. They were released to return home at 2 a.m. the following Monday.
Those who went on the trip along with Russo were Capt. David Congini, Ed Harris and Charlie Cunningham from the Neshannock department as well as Mike Patrone, a New Castle Fire Rescue team member who was needed for urban search and rescue, and several ambulance crews sent by Noga’s Ambulance.
Melcer and his deputy director, Jeff Parish, lead the group and helped out at the communications center.
Melcer said that PEMA will eventually reimburse the county for any expenses incurred in the rescue effort, such as fuel and equipment costs.
The state is organized into regions where rescuers are trained to travel elsewhere to assist whenever they are needed.
As for the local group, who for the most part are unpaid volunteers, Melcer said, “They did a tremendous job; I am really proud of them.”