By Carl Prine and Karen Zapf
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday September 19, 2004
From Article:
They kept screaming for him to grasp the rope, his only lifeline over brown, churning waters.
Dennis Santiago didn’t hear them because he was deaf.
When more than 20 rescued Carnegie residents last saw him around 5 a.m. Saturday, Santiago, 35, was perched in a slick black tree, seemingly oblivious to their shouts. He flailed weakly for the rope before collapsing in exhaustion and being swept into the rushing Chartiers Creek.
Santiago is missing and presumed dead, authorities said yesterday. They have no idea how long he clung to the branches before the rescue attempt.
He is believed to be the only person directly killed by the flooding from the record 5.95 inches of rain dumped on the Pittsburgh region over 24 hours on Friday.
In Carnegie, Chartiers Creek deluged several downtown blocks and threatened to wash away the Mansfield Bridge.
In a series of daring rubber raft rescues stretching past midnight Friday, the U.S. Coast Guard, Pennsylvania National Guard and Crafton Volunteer Fire Department shuttled trapped motorists and Carnegie Police officers from the bridge to the nearby Holy Souls Roman Catholic Church on St. Mary Street just off Mansfield Avenue.
Shortly before dawn yesterday, a National Guard amphibious vehicle plucked the stranded men and women from the chapel. Before reaching higher, drier land, the vehicle was ordered to veer through the flooded streets to reach Santiago.
For the bridge survivors in the vehicle, the elation of their rescue disappeared when Santiago dropped into the murky water. “We heard a guy crying for help,” said Ken Pasi, one of those rescued from the bridge. ” ‘Help! Help! Help! Help!’ So this National Guard guy said, ‘Buckle up,’ and we went over there. I saw this guy hanging in a tree. They threw a rope to him, but he couldn’t hold it. He was too tired.
“They threw him the rope, but he just didn’t have any strength. We kept yelling, ‘Grab the rope! Grab the rope!’ But he didn’t seem to understand. He was so weak. He just kind of slumped over and fell in and then he was gone,” said Pasi, of Library Avenue.
The tragedy gnaws at the volunteer firefighters who tried to comfort the Lincoln Avenue man until a rescue helicopter could make the hour-long flight from Johnstown or any boat to tug him to safety.
“We heard him hollering,” said John Kandracks, Carnegie fire chief. “But the water was so rapid they couldn’t get a boat. We just tried to keep him calm.”
Allegheny County Emergency Management Director Bob Full said counselors have been summoned to help the men who tried to save Santiago.
“They become very attached to the person they are attempting to rescue,” Full said.
Santiago’s mother declared him missing, Carnegie Police Chief Jeff Harbin said early yesterday afternoon.
The chief was himself rescued after spending a shivering night in Holy Souls.
Police described Santiago as 5 feet 8 inches tall, about 150 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
Santiago’s Lincoln Avenue neighborhood stood quiet yesterday afternoon.
Two elderly women standing in the yard of Santiago’s duplex said they did not want to be interviewed. His next-door neighbor, Jack Schantz, was saddened by his neighbor’s presumed death.
“He was a nice fellow,” said Schantz. “He never bothered anyone. When he would see you, he would wave. He minded his own business and came and went. His handicap didn’t seem to bother him.”
Carl Prine can be reached at cprine@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7826. Karen Zapf can be reached at kzapf@tribweb.com or (412) 380-8522.