SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Survivors of a deadly sidewalk collapse at a state-owned ferry dock on a Georgia island said Thursday that the government should help them pay for the funerals of the seven who died, as well as medical bills and mental health counseling for those who lived.
Lawmakers on the Georgia Senate Urban Affairs Committee heard from four people who were at the dock on Sapelo Island on Oct. 19 when a metal gangway broke in half, sending dozens of people falling into the water.
Among them was Yvonne Brockington of Jacksonville, Florida, who had arranged for more than 50 members of her older adults club to visit the island during an annual cultural festival organized by the petite 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 like she was in a falling elevator. When she suddenly stopped, she felt both of her legs break. While bystanders pulled Brockington to safety with a rope, four members of her club were killed.
“I don’t know if the psychological effect will ever go away, but we definitely need help,” Brockington told lawmakers via video conference from her hospital bed. “It shouldn’t have happened. The state of Georgia owes us more than just resources. They owe us an apology and must ensure that something like this never happens again.”
Other survivors at the meeting in Atlanta said 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 wonders, “What about the people who may not have survived?” I could 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 pulled underwater herself.
“We need psychological support, financial support and resources to ensure survivors and their families have everything they need to begin recovery,” Brinson said.
The dock on Sapelo Island is operated by the state Department of Natural Resources, which manages daily ferry service to and from the mainland.
According to the agency, about 700 people turned out Oct. 19 for Cultural Day, a celebration of the petite community of Hogg Hummock, founded by freed slaves after the Civil War. Hogg Hummock is one of the few remaining Gullah-Geechee communities in the South, where slaves who worked on remote island plantations have preserved much of their African heritage.
Mawuli Davis, the lawyer for some of those injured in the collapse, told lawmakers his clients had been contacted by state investigators for interviews but by no one offering help.
Lawmakers said they agreed the state should do more to help victims. But how much influence they will have is unclear: The Senate Urban Affairs Committee is made up of six Democrats, while Republicans control the Legislature and the governor’s office.
“The state has a responsibility,” said Sen. Donzella James, an Atlanta Democrat and chairwoman of the committee. “We are conducting this hearing to find out exactly what they are 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 on its own, and last week Attorney General Chris Carr said he had hired an engineering firm to conduct an independent, parallel investigation.
No one from the Department of Natural Resources spoke to the committee Thursday.
This past weekend, the department offered free counseling services to residents on Sapelo Island and on the mainland in McIntosh County. A news release said that “mental health resources are being made available to those in need on an ongoing basis” and that Natural Resources Commissioner Walter Rabon has contacted the families of those killed and “provided them with a phone number 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 spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources did not immediately respond to an email seeking more information about how the department is helping victims.
