Winter Storm Finn left a Massachusetts man clinging for life on Wednesday.
The Norwood Fire Department responded and posted details to Facebook, stating, “On arrival crews found 1 vehicle fully submerged and a single occupant that had self extricated prior to arrival but was unable to swim and hanging on to a tree.”
“Firefighters quickly deployed a rescue swimmer in a survival suit to remove the person who was then transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.”
CBS News Boston reported on the incident and noted resident Nancy Robles witnessed the rescue and told WBZ-TV, “He was just yelling. From my window, I could hear him yelling.”
“He was holding on to the branch. He was just hanging and screaming for dear life,” she added.
She went on, “I’m scared now going through there, especially with the flooding and then stuff and the construction.”
“If this is going to go on and we’re going to get more storms, can you imagine? It’s going to get worse,” she concluded.
The East Coast was hammered by the winter storm, leading to more than a million power outages, per Reuters.
New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania all experienced 10s of thousands of outages, but WCVB ABC News noted Massachusetts received as much as a foot and a half of snow in various areas.
As residents continue to recover, a new winter storm is moving toward the area and expected to arrive over the upcoming weekend.
StormTeam 5 chief meteorologist Cindy Fitzgibbon said, “The next storm comes Friday night into Saturday, and it is tracking to our West, which means we are talking about heavy rain and not snow,” via, WCVB ABC News.
The outlet reported that rivers and streams are already swollen, and flood risks are expected to increase.
