Watch CBS News

NYC's 911 System Inundated With Weather-Related Calls

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) --  The city's 911 system couldn't keep up with the number of weather-related calls that came in Sunday.

Drivers and pedestrians braved wet weather conditions and the morning ice caused hundreds of accidents, including several multi-car pileups.

FDNY Spokesman Jim Long told 1010 WINS there was a spike in 911 call volume on Sunday.

The Emergency Services Command was forced to prioritize calls. About 600 calls considered non-critical and low priority were held to keep resources available for more urgent situations.

"It was devastating because I never seen somebody on the street that long," said Dee Hendricks.

Hendricks told CBS2's Hazel Sanchez she watched helplessly for two hours as a woman cried in pain, holding her bloodied face after she slipped on an icy sidewalk on Tremont Avenue in the Bronx and hit her head on the ground.

Hendricks said she and several witnesses tried calling 911, but kept getting sent to a service for the hearing impaired.

"I heard the doo doot doo doo. Then it says TTY. Then it says for deaf people. Then you hear it go beep beep beep beep beep," she said.

About 30 minutes later, a 911 operator finally answered, Sanchez reported.

"The young lady was stating she didn't know how long it was going to take for someone to come help the lady because they were getting so many phone calls about the black ice that people couldn't get through because of the traffic and ambulances and police officers were called to so many other places," Hendricks said.

The call volume began to rise between 7:30 and 8 a.m. and peaked between 10 and 11 a.m. Calls dropped back down to normal around 2 p.m., 1010 WINS reported.

The highest percentage of calls were from the Bronx and Queens.

Crews from New Jersey, Nassau and Suffolk counties had to be brought in to help at one point. Another 42 FDNY units were not allowed to go off-duty in order to help with the call volume.

"Well it took the cops an hour and 20 minutes and the ambulance never came," Hendricks said. "The cops had to take the young lady to the hospital themselves."

The woman was treated for minor injuries and released from a hospital, Sanchez reported.

Hendricks said she's grateful it wasn't worse.

"If anything happens to me, I'm calling 911. That's who I trust. Today, I lost a little trust," she said.

EMS said it did not experience any serious injuries or loss of life during the spike.

Long said it's not unusual for EMS to prioritize calls to keep resources available for more serious calls.

 

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.