Dramatic Rescue Unfolds as Floods Sweep Pedestrians Under Car

The full fury of the mighty "Main Street River" was invoked when Tropical Storm Andrea dumped record amounts of rain across the East Coast in the beginning of June. 

Conspiring with the high tide and Northport's steep valley topography, runoff gathered into a torrent that rendered streets impassable, stranded drivers, and literally swept Northport resident Robert Mack and his wife off their feet.

Mack and his wife were overtaken outside 299 Main Street on Friday, June 7 at the height of the storm and pinned underneath a car by the rushing current. As both struggled to free themselves and thought the worst, they got a lucky break when Northport Fire Department First Assistant Fire Chief Joe Pansini happened to drive by.

Pansini saw a man struggling in the water at the rear of his car. He stopped and, by the time he got to the side of the car, the man had disappeared. 

Pansini looked underneath the car and saw a leg, he pulled the leg out and a woman emerged instead of the man he had seen behind the car. The woman began screaming "My husband, My husband!" and gestured toward two legs sticking out from underneath the car.

As Pansini tried to free Mack, two other passersby -- retired Northport Police Officer Billy Hayes and Main Street resident Tim Bossert -- joined in the rescue effort. They freed Mack and both were transported to Huntington Hospital for treatment. 

Following his ordeal Mack wrote on Northport Patch's Facebook page that something  should be done about Northport's flooding problem.

"One day someone a child or an adult will sadly die beacause of this flooding, please don't wait for a tradegy to happen.... [sic]" he wrote.

Mayor George Doll addressed the flooding problem at the June 18 Village Board meeting. The village follows Army Corps of Engineers advice and has 400 storm drains but the problem still remains, particularly in a deluge such as the one brought by Andrea.

"We cannot catch all this water," said Mayor George Doll. "It's impossible. So we put storm drains upstream to catch it before it becomes a torrent."

The village spent $600,000 to install 13 storm catch basins in the village recently, according to Deputy Mayor Henry Tobin, and the plan is to install even more.

"We're waiting for additional funding and will be placing them in various locations such as near the Laurel Avenue School and St Philip's Church," said Trustee Damon McMullen. "We're constantly trying to add additional catch basins."

Doll said the village would recognize the men who rescued Mack and his wife, perhaps with a proclamation.