Updated August 31, 2017 9:36 PM
By Anthony M. DeStefano anthony.destefano@newsday.com
NYPD officers cradle a dog removed from a flooded house in Brazoria County, Texas on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017. They are part of New York Task Force 1, made up of FDNY and NYPD personnel, that is helping with rescue operations in the Houston area. The task force is working in the Brazoria towns of Sweeney, West Columbia, Sandy Point and Holiday Lakes. Photo Credit: NYPD
Seventeen dogs, seven people and one stranded tractor driver have been evacuated by a special task force of NYPD and FDNY personnel lending a hand to flood operations in the Houston area, officials said Thursday.
“They anticipate the numbers will increase,” said Chief Timothy Trainor, NYPD spokesman.
The dogs were removed Wednesday from homes and taken to animal shelters while the people voluntarily elected to take advantage of the task force offer for evacuation, Trainor said. The tractor driver was stranded in high water, he said.
Officials released photographs late Wednesday and early Thursday of the task force activity. One image shows NYPD officers cradling a dog being removed from a flooded house. The dog also was photographed in a boat driving on the water accompanied by a man in a camouflaged outfit who was not a task force member, Trainor said.
Working 16-hour shifts, task force members, who are under the coordination of the New York City Office of Emergency Management but taking direction from federal authorities, were operating in the vicinity of Brazoria County, which is near the coast south of Houston and west of Galveston. Trainor said. Officials there were on watch for additional flooding from the levees.
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