NY Times Reporter Says Nighttime Rescue Operation In Houston Subdivision Was Surreal

Houston bureau chief for the New York Times says emergency personnel used backhoes to rescue people from flooded houses near the Tidwell Lakes subdivision.

By Rhonda FanningAugust 29, 2017 2:19 pm, ,

The image of people being rescued by boat seems ubiquitous in the days after Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas Gulf Coast.

But Manny Fernandez, Houston bureau chief for the New York Times, followed a group of rescuers too see what it’s like to navigate flood waters at night, when it’s harder to see who needs help.

Fernandez says it was an eye-opening experience to observe nighttime rescues near the Tidwell Lakes subdivision.

“It was underwater and there was a massive civilian and police rescue operation that went throughout the evening. …It was just surreal. There were evacuees that were put onto backhoes,” he says.

 

Written by Caroline Covington.