This Google map shows the area known as O'Sullivan's Island in Derby.
DERBY – A man clinging to a fence in flood waters on O’Sullivan’s Island in Derby was saved Sunday by a crew from the Derby Storm Ambulance and Rescue Corp, Chief Thomas Lenart Sr. said.
O’Sullivan’s Island is a peninsula that juts out into the water where the Housatonic and Naugatuck rivers meet in Derby under the Route 8 bridge.
The man had been fishing* and was quickly trapped by the flash flood. However, he had a cell phone on him and was able to call 911, Lenart said. Rescuers did not know his location, only that he was somewhere in the river.
The call came in at about 9 p.m.
“We were told there was someone calling for help on an island in the river. We thought O’Sullivan’s Island was the only place the person could be, so the Storms launched a boat from the area behind Crystal Cleaners (on Route 34),” Lenart said. “They were able to hear the guy calling for help, so they had a general idea where he was.”
Photo Courtesy Of Kamil Kwaśkiewicz
The Derby Greenway, near O'Sullivan's Island, after flood waters receded on Monday.
The Storm volunteers in the boat were Derby Storms Marine Division Capt. Mike Witek, along with Joe Ferrigno, Sean McGuire and James Petrino.
Lenart said the river was raging.
“The current was just unbelievable. It was extreme. The current was just throwing them all over the place,” Lenart said.
O’Sullivan’s Island was underwater, but the man kept his head above the water by clinging to a fence.
Lenart said the man was brought to Griffin Hospital. His condition was not available on Monday.
“Last night he was cold and exhausted after being in that water for a while,” Lenart said.
Overall Derby was spared the damage seen in nearby Oxford, Monroe and Seymour.
“We were very lucky. To my knowledge there was not a lot of structural damage in Derby,” Lenart said.
He said emergency services in the city mobilized after hearing reports of flash flooding to the north.
“We knew there was water coming at us,” he said.
*EDITOR’S NOTE: officials originally said the man was homeless but reached out after publication to say the man had been fishing
