Maplewood 'Hero' Saves Man's Life In Millburn During Ida Floods

MILLBURN, NJ — When Maplewood resident Derek Alfano heard a man screaming “I can’t swim!” while trapped in his car during Tropical Storm Ida last month, he knew he had to do everything in his power to save him.

“I was afraid, but I knew I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to him. I couldn’t leave him there,” Alfano said.

On the night of Sept. 1, Alfano — who works at the renowned regional theater Paper Mill Playhouse — was driving through Millburn Avenue on his way home from work when he got caught in the tropical storm that caused severe flooding throughout northern New Jersey.

His car started to fill with water, eventually rising up to his knees. Once his car stalled and the water level was up to his window, he decided to evacuate the vehicle and take cover at a medical building at 90 Millburn Ave.

After waiting inside the building for half an hour, Alfano heard a man yelling outside. The young man, named Junior, had his head poked out of the sunroof of his car and was yelling that he couldn’t swim. The front of Junior’s car was fully underwater, and the back was floating on top of Alfano’s now fully-submerged car.

Reacting quickly, Alfano waded back into the five-foot floodwaters, amidst downed wires and lightning flashing around him.

He told Junior to escape through the sunroof and wait on the hood of his car. Alfano pushed through the water and debris, grabbed Junior’s hand, and brought him back to the building safely. (see video)

The video below contains adult language.

“It was really scary because my biggest fear was getting electrocuted,” Alfano said. “I just prayed to God and said, ‘God please protect me.’ And I said, ‘if I’m meant to die today, then okay.’”

'Very Traumatizing Event'

Alfano and Junior stayed in the medical building for about an hour and a half until the fire department came and took them, as well as four or five other people, to a dry area on Millburn Avenue under a woman’s porch.

“Unfortunately the lady wouldn’t let us in [her house], to give us a towel or nothing, so we were freezing for like an hour and a half,” Alfano said.

Finally, the group was taken to Millburn Library where Alfano stayed until 7 a.m the next morning. He said there were about 20 other people in the library at that time. Luckily, he was able to save his laptop in the flood, and he entertained everyone by playing T.V. shows throughout the night.

But Alfano said it was uncomfortable sitting in cold, wet clothes for so many hours.

“I didn’t think it was going to be as bad as it was,” Alfano said about the storm. “I got the flash flood [alert] on my cell phone, but they could have said more on the news earlier [that] this was a really dangerous risk.”

[Patch posted warnings about the storm; see coverage here and sign up for Millburn breaking news alerts below.]

Since the storm, Alfano said he is still traumatized. At the Los Lobos concert at the Paper Mill a few weeks ago, the organizers were going to honor Alfano, but he ended up not going because it was storming again that night and he was afraid to drive.

Despite risking his own life to save Junior, Alfano said he doesn’t view himself as a hero.

He is still trying to get in contact with Junior, who said he was from South Orange.

“It was a very traumatizing event, and I just want to give him a hug and make sure he’s all good,” Alfano said.

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