How This Blind Man Saved His Mother From Tropical Storm Ida

Tags: Currents Blind, Faith, Flood Waters, Flooding, Hurricane Ida, Inspiration, Prayer, Queens, NY, Tropical Storm Ida

By Emily Drooby

As Tropical Storm Ida raged, Danette Rivera ran down the steps into the basement of her Woodside, Queens home with a pump. She was hoping to slow down the water so she shut the door, but quickly came to a terrifying realization.

Danette explained, “When the water got about to my chest, or almost shoulders, I tried to pull the door back open so I could get out, and it wouldn’t open. So, I could get out, and it wouldn’t open. It was completely jammed.”

She was stuck in her flooding basement. A small window was her only escape but it was way above her head and water was still pouring in.

“Then I was getting tired and exhausted so I kept giving up. And when I would release the window, I would drop back down and realize I was a foot and a half under water,” she said.

After almost an hour of trying to escape, she was running out of energy and air. She was praying for help and that’s when her son, Justin appeared through the howling storm – he had somehow heard her screams.

Danette said, “God touched my sons’ heart and brought him down to me in just the right knick of time.”

Justin, who couldn’t join us for this interview, is legally blind in both eyes. He was able to fight his way through the flooding, to the window, and pull her out just in time.

Danette said, “he saved my life.”

Danette’s basement is ruined. But she still has the three most important things; her faith, her son, and her life.