We've got some local firefighters in Mississippi who extended their stay since last week to make sure they were there to help people get through Isaac.
It turns out, it is a good thing they did.
Tuesday night, Glenville Fire Captain Scott Runkel and Niskayuna firefighter J.P. Bradke helped rescue a family with a six-month-old baby.
Runkel tells us they were out checking water levels during the storm in a small town called Pearlington, Mississippi, when they spotted a blinking flashlight and people waving their arms.
When Runkel and Bradke got closer they realized the family was on a houseboat about a thousand feet off of the dry road, deep in flood water.
Runkel says it appeared the boat was taking on water.
The firefighters said they couldn't jeopardize their safety by wading through the floodwaters - so they called a mutual aid boat and helped that crew get the family to safety.
“It really flies by, you don’t have time to think about the severity of the situation,” Runkel said. “We always make sure we are safe and that’s why our team members did not go in the water and we called for more a specialized team. We didn't want to put ourselves wading through that water you never know what's underneath the water floating, especially down here you have alligators, you have snakes, and we did see a lot of debris floating in the water too.”
Captain Runkel says when they were out Tuesday night, the water was rising about four feet an hour.
He says they couldn't make it back to the fire station because of the high water, and so they are conducting emergency rescue operations from the nearby NASA station.
Runkel says Pearlington residents have been advised that the water may not recede until sometime next week.
Runkel and Bradke are traveling with Hancock Hope, a non-profit organization created by firefighters in western New York in the wake of Katrina.
