While on the way upstate to their country house, the Young sisters found themselves stranded on the Major Deegan Expressway Thursday afternoon.

After flash floods moved quickly through the area, their sedan couldn’t make it through the high water. 

“I tried to speed up trying to get through because I could see the water was deeper than I thought and as I sped up I didn’t make it,” recalled Shelia Young. 

They say they were stuck for what felt like an hour with water rising up to their mid-calves. 

“I tried to crank it up again and I was stuck. I was stuck,” explained Young. “We were sitting there and I was really nervous.” 

That was until officers from Strategic Response Group 2 showed up. 

They rescued the Young sisters as well as about a dozen others who found themselves stranded in stalled cars. 

“I held onto them and pretty much pushed them into Captain Miller’s arms and he hoisted them up with another officer and they were happy for joy,” explained Officer Daniel Bergman. “They were screaming praise, they were saying, ‘Thank you, Jesus’ because they felt they were safe at that point and that is all we had to do, make them feel safe.”

The sisters, in their 70s, say they were so thankful the officers came when they did. 

They say the longer they sat the more their car seemed to start floating and moving around in the water. 

“They picked me up like I was a feather. And I just said, ‘Thank you so much.’ They were the nicest officers. I tell you I am so appreciative. I really thank God that they were there,” said Young. 

Shelia says her older sister Sharon told her not to go through the water. 

They have some advice for drivers to remember for the rain days ahead. 

“I would say, listen to your gut, listen to that sixth sense and do not go through that water,” Shelia Young said.