Stranded motorists rescued from raging floodwaters in Rockland County
ROCKLAND COUNTY, New York (WABC) -- There are countless closed roads in Harriman State Park - the problem is, just because they look okay, doesn't mean they are safe.
The flood water lifted up in some areas, and peeled up the roadway underneath. Park rangers say the structural integrity of roads is seriously compromised, and there is damage and destruction for miles.
The road completely caved in at Route 218 In Cornwall - the force of mother nature just swallowed it up.
Over on the Palisades Parkway, it looked more like the Florida Everglades, with state police needing a police boat to get around.
On the Parkway near Seven Lakes Drive, vehicles got stuck on roads that buckled, got jammed on pieces of fallen trees, or swept off the Parkway all together.
"We had patients with oxygen, we had kids, families mothers, and we had a patient...some condition that he couldn't walk even if he wanted to," said Sruly Rosenberg.
Rosenberg is a search and rescue team member from Chaverim Emergency Services. He pulled dozens of trapped motorists out of the rapids.
Rosenberg says it was surreal, with countless children and mothers begging for rescue.
"So if you're 6'2", the water line over here is about five feet high. It's probably about five-foot water rushing in, coming from this way, coming from that way," he said.
"You're looking for a green car, whatever it is, it has like a 200 times zoom," added Isaac Klitnick.
Klitnick is Rosenberg's team member who helped locate stranded motorists with a drone.
"The Palisades was literally covered in rocks and debris and branches and who knows what. So it was very hard to drive there. Certain areas of the highway just fell in. I think the worst part was towards the roundabout that literally fell apart by the 6," Klitnick said.
It was widespread destruction with highways that looked like broken puzzle pieces ripped apart.
Body camera video from New York State Troopers show a similar type of rescue in Orange County - stranded motorists were seen being pulled through a violent flood by a rope.
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