Graham fire chief Tommy Cole recognized firemen, police, as well as public works and recreation department members who provided valuable contributions on July 6, when Tropical Storm Chantal made landfall and swept through North Carolina, dumping heavy rain across Alamance County, particularly in Graham and Mebane.
Cole recounted for council members that 7 to 10 inches of rain accumulated rapidly within a few hours, causing “massive flooding” across the city in what Cole termed “catastrophic” proportions.
In addition to fire and police responding on that day, Cole recruited public works director Burke Robertson, who used a front-end loader with firefighters in the bucket to begin rescues and evacuations throughout the city before official water rescue teams from Guilford County arrived.
Cole described how recreation director Brian Faucette drove one of his department’s buses to take residents to evacuation centers.
Cole also singled out resident Brenda Cruz, who assisted the chief and others in translating instructions from emergency first responders to residents, many of them Hispanic and not understanding English well, of a mobile home park on Darrell Drive, that was flooding.
“Had it not been for Ms. Cruz,” Cole told the council Tuesday, “our efforts would have been much harder and possibility ineffective, resulting in injury or death for those citizens.”
All were thanked and given a certificate of commendation from the fire chief, as well as a standing ovation from council members and many in the audience.
Not pictured were: fire captain Jason Moore; fire department lieutenant John Harrington; fire engineer Chase Crill; and police officers Austin Riley and Reid Terrell.
