Firefighters rescue two 12yo girls swept away
Published: July 14, 2005
Firefighters successfully rescued two 12-year-old girls who were swept away in a 5-foot wall of rushing water that struck them while they were in a drainage pipe Wednesday.
Mineola Fire Chief David Stevenson said the girls were wading in 6- to 12-inch water at 3:10 p.m. in the drainage pipe near the 400 block of Front Street, when a flash flood hit, and the water rose to capacity in the pipe in under 5 minutes.
The 40- to 60-mph wall of rushing water dragged the girls through a series of culvert pipes for a quarter-mile, until they were able to grasp one of the concrete supports on the pipe at Front and Stone streets.
Stevenson said firefighters constructed a rope retrieval system and were able to pull one of the girls out of the water quickly.
The other girl, however, could not hold on to the rope. She was swept down the drainage pipe for another quarter-mile through a culvert pipe and into a brushy area, where she was able to hold on until a swift water rescue team formed a human chain and pulled her out of the water.
The girls were transported to a local hospital, but sustained only bumps and bruises, Stevenson said.
“Fortunately, we had a very happy ending to this one,” Stevenson said. “I’m proud of the little girls for holding on as long as they did and I’m proud of my firefighters for reacting so well.”
Stevenson said the dangerous rescue was the first of its kind in the 27 years he has been with the department.
“What (the firefighters) did, even though they train for it, I think is more dangerous than a fire,” he said.
“You can’t control water … They did an excellent job.”
Stevenson said the girls were lucky to be alive, and that if the water hadn’t been pushing them so quickly through the pipes, they would’ve gotten stuck and drowned.
Flash floods can be dangerous, Stevenson said, and children should stay out of drainage ditches and drainage canals.
He also said motorists should not attempt to drive through water, because even 6 inches of rushing water can move a car.
“People don’t understand the dynamics of moving water,” he said. “It is very, very strong.”
On Wednesday night, several streets in Mineola remained covered in debris that washed in from the flood, and power crews were working to restore the few power lines knocked out in the afternoon storm.
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