Survivors of deadly collapse at Georgia dock seek state's help for
funerals, counseling
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[November 01, 2024]
By RUSS BYNUM
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Survivors of a deadly walkway collapse at a
state-run ferry dock on a Georgia island said Thursday that the
government should help them pay for funerals for the seven people who
died as well as medical bills and mental health counseling for those who
lived.
Lawmakers on the Georgia Senate's Urban Affairs Committee heard from
four people who were at the dock on Sapelo Island on Oct. 19 when a
metal gangway snapped in the middle, sending dozens of people plunging
into the water.
Among them was Yvonne Brockington of Jacksonville, Florida, who had
arranged for more than 50 members of her club for older adults to visit
the island during an annual cultural festival organized by its tiny
Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.
Brockington said she was waiting with others to board an afternoon ferry
off the island when she suddenly felt as if she was in a falling
elevator. When she stopped suddenly, she felt both of her legs break.
While bystanders used a rope to pull Brockington to safety, four members
of her club perished.
“The psychological effect, I don't know if it will ever go away, but we
definitely need help,” Brockington told lawmakers via video conference
from her hospital bed. “It should not have happened. The state of
Georgia owes us more than resources. They owe us an apology, and they
need to make sure it never happens again.”
Other survivors told the meeting in Atlanta that the traumatic day still
haunts them.
Darrel Jenkins, who pulled two people from the water but never learned
whether they lived or died, said he continues to have nightmares and
asks himself: “What about the people that might not have lived? Could I
have done more?”
Regina Brinson said her 79-year-old uncle, Isaiah Thomas, drowned after
she had to pry his clutching fingers from her shirt to avoid being
dragged underwater herself.
“We need mental health support, financial support, resources to ensure
that the survivors and their families have what they need to start
recovery,” Brinson said.
The dock on Sapelo Island is operated by the state Department of Natural
Resources, which manages the daily ferry service to and from the
mainland.
The agency says about 700 people visited Oct. 19 for Cultural Day, a
celebration of the tiny Hogg Hummock community founded by emancipated
slaves after the Civil War. Hogg Hummock is one of the few Gullah-Geechee
communities remaining in the South, where slaves who worked isolated
island plantations retained much of their African heritage.
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A portion of the collapsed gangway remains visible on Sapelo Island
in McIntosh County, Ga., on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis
Levine, File)
Mawuli Davis, an attorney for some of the people injured in the
collapse, told lawmakers his clients have been contacted by state
investigators for interviews but not by anyone offering assistance.
Lawmakers said they agree that the state should do more to assist
the victims. But how much influence they will have isn't clear: The
Senate Urban Affairs Committee is made up of six Democrats, while
Republicans control the legislature and the governor's office.
“The state has responsibility,” said Sen. Donzella James, an Atlanta
Democrat and the committee's chairperson. “We’re having this hearing
to find out what it is exactly they're responsible for.”
The Department of Natural Resources, with assistance from the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation, is investigating what caused the
collapse. But victims' lawyers have said they don't trust the state
agency to investigate itself, and last week Attorney General Chris
Carr said he had called in an engineering firm to conduct an
independent, parallel investigation.
No one from the Department of Natural Resources spoke before the
committee Thursday.
Last weekend the department offered free counseling services to
residents of Sapelo Island as well as on the mainland in McIntosh
County. It said in a news release that “ongoing mental health
resources will be provided to those in need” and that Natural
Resources Commissioner Walter Rabon contacted families of those
killed and “shared a phone number with them should they need
anything.”
The news release also included a hyperlink to an online form that
injured people can fill out to file a liability claim with the
state.
A Department of Natural Resources spokesperson did not immediately
respond to an email message seeking more information on how it is
assisting victims.
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