Instead of Reporting and Writing, Gabriel Was Reported on and Written About

By STEPHANIE ROSERO

Gabriel Tiu is a 28-year-old Journalism and Media Studies Major at Brooklyn College. He is a resident of Elmhurst, Queens, a neighborhood gravely affected by the heavy rains caused by Hurricane Ida. Unfortunately, Tiu was caught in the storm Wednesday evening in his 2018 Mazda CX-9 and was stuck all night trying to get his car out of a large body of water.

He was supposed to be spending Thursday writing for the Brooklyn News Service. Instead, he’s the subject of this article by his classmate and colleague.

Gabriel says the peak of the flood was around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, while he was driving with his father, whom he had picked up from work. He said the deepest waters he went through was around Rego Park. His car shut down, boom, as he was only three blocks away from his home. He was stuck and could not get out.

“I (had) thought I would make it, but my car just stopped. A wave of water flooded the hood, and it wet the battery.” The water built up and reached just below Gabriel’s waist. He drove into the flood thinking he could get his SUV past it, even as he saw sedans fully covered in water. But he was wrong. “At one point my car was off the ground and it was floating and that was when the shock hit me.”

Tiu says the rain stopped at around midnight, and by that time, the damage was done. He got some help from a couple of good samaritans but he remained stuck in his car.

Gabriel says that New York City was not prepared for something like this at all. “I’m not too familiar with climate change but that’s probably happening before our eyes right now so I’m definitely more concerned and wanna learn more about what is going on. It’s an eye opener for not only me but for everyone.”

Gabriel says, thankfully, that his home was standing — though his sister’s first-floor apartment was flooded. He is now using a rental car, hoping that insurance will cover the damage of his totaled car. He says now, in the aftermath of his hell on wheels, he hopes he and his city will be in “recovery mode.”