An emotional US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand broke down in tears today during testimony on Hurricane Sandy as she told her senate colleagues about the terrible moment when flood waters snatched two small brothers out of their mother’s helpless arms.
Gillibrand, herself the mother of two young boys, gave a human voice to what is normally a dry Senate committee hearing.
Gillibrand started off by calmly mentioning that 40 New Yorkers had been killed in the storm and that it ravaged the area by cutting across “the most densely populated region in the country.”
Then her voice broke and she choked back tears as she recalled one of the storm’s more tragic moments.
“The most heartbreaking story was when I went to Staten Island and we met with first responders whose job was to find two children,” Gillibrand said before she paused a full 10 seconds and struggled to regain her composure.
She went on to describe the tragic tale of Glenda Moore, whose sons Brandon, 2 and Connor, 4, were washed from her arms by raging floodwaters on a Staten Island road at the height of the storm.
“She tried to get them to higher land, and they were taken away from her arms,” Gillibrand said through tears. “These children were 2 years old and 4 years old, and the mother could do nothing about it because the storm was so strong. She’s just one story of many whose families lost their lives.”
Gilibrand’s testimony, before the Senate Committee in the Environment and Public Works, even moved the committee chair, Barbara Boxer, to tears.
“Let me just say, you’ve given us the most touching testimony,” Boxer, a senator from California, said. “I thank you because you allowed your emotions to come to the surface. You put an amazing human face on this superstorm and we have a lot of work to do.”
Members also heard from US Sen. Charles Schumer, who called for a comprehensive new approach for future flood control.
Testimony included horror stories from New Jersey Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez, who showed a slide presentation that featured video from Port Authority surveillance cameras showing the Hoboken PATH station filling with water.
“We need help, not just rebuilding to the status quo, but stronger so we’re not as vulnerable again,” Menendez said.