I am waiting for more details, as no one here seems to have the whole story.

I thought she was out driving to safety when her car hit a hole in the road and she got stuck. She and her boys waded over to the tree which was beside the row of houses. When the flood waters rose, she tried to continue holding onto the tree and her boys but could not and they got swept away. So then she managed to get to the houses and knocked on the man's door.

The man must have been really surprised seeing someone come to his house in the middle of the night during a raging storm. Something you wouldn't think would happen except in a scary movie. Maybe he was afraid that the stranger who came out of nowhere was up to no good and made up a story to get him to come outside. I do wonder though, as PP said, he was drunk or maybe on something to calm his nerves during the storm so he thought the lady was a man. But maybe the lady is big and tall and maybe she looked like a man under a large raincoat or jacket. I don't know why he didn't call 911 though. And he did seem like he was covering up something when the news reporter asked him if he knew what happened to the kids.

Anonymous wrote:

A woman alone during a disaster?

The police told me that this is precisely the mistake too many people make--thinking it is safe to open to a woman but not a man. I am the poster above regarding the "rape" victim. The police who came to my door said that I could very likely have ended up facing a gun if I had let her in my house. Do not think that just because the "victim" is a female that you are safe. Call 911.

This. Or they may get inside and then let in their male accomplices.

The obvious explanation is that the man was totally drunk or equivalent, and that's why he thought there was a man outside, and he was not calling 911. He didn't know what was really going on there. Or he is a racist asshole.

Anonymous wrote:Where was her husband?

I bet money on marital issues and she purposely left her kids in the storm then made it all up. Why not break into an abandoned house and call 911?

Judgemental much? CNN said her husband works for the city and was out working during the storm.

The man should have done something

Where was her husband?

I bet money on marital issues and she purposely left her kids in the storm then made it all up. Why not break into an abandoned house and call 911?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a bizarre story. I understand her trying I get help, but why, when he said no, didn't she go back to get her boys? Why was she out driving? I don't know maybe there is much more to the story...

Her boys were trapped in the flood waters, in the middle of a hurricane. She needed help to rescue them. The neighborhood was abandoned because most people had evacuated. The winds were blowing at hurricane force. 70 -80 MPH. She was driving because her house was flooded and she needed to get somewhere else. She may have been young and not thinking clearly. Lots of people, unfortunately, do stupid things in a storm, or fail to evacuate when they should, or get caught in a flood unexpectedly.

Then she made very, many bad decisions none of which had anything to do with that one man in his home. That being said, the timeline doesn't add up or even make sense.

Sadly, she didn't NEED to leave her home, she got scared and decided to leave. Turned out to be a tragic decision. At a certain point during a storm, you must shelter-in-place b/c venturing out under any circumstances is too dangerous. Very sad story.

Anonymous wrote:What a bizarre story. I understand her trying I get help, but why, when he said no, didn't she go back to get her boys? Why was she out driving? I don't know maybe there is much more to the story...

Her boys were trapped in the flood waters, in the middle of a hurricane. She needed help to rescue them. The neighborhood was abandoned because most people had evacuated. The winds were blowing at hurricane force. 70 -80 MPH. She was driving because her house was flooded and she needed to get somewhere else. She may have been young and not thinking clearly. Lots of people, unfortunately, do stupid things in a storm, or fail to evacuate when they should, or get caught in a flood unexpectedly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Google culpeper unsolved murder if you want to know what can happen if you answer the door for a stranger supposedly in distress.

Get a grip. Google CNN to see the full story. The storm was bearing down, water was rushing by, she's crying and banging on the door, and trying to throw something through the window, so she could get her kids to safety. And, he turned the other way! When asked why he didn't help, he responded, he didn't help b/c he had flip flops on! When he was told they died, he responded that they should not have been outside. Did you see the look of horror on this mother's face after losing two children. Be human you fool, human, if you can manage!

Not only that, he wouldn't even call 911. I hope they prosecute him. New York has some crazy laws.

Maybe the phones weren't working.

What a bizarre story. I understand her trying I get help, but why, when he said no, didn't she go back to get her boys? Why was she out driving? I don't know maybe there is much more to the story...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Google culpeper unsolved murder if you want to know what can happen if you answer the door for a stranger supposedly in distress.

Get a grip. Google CNN to see the full story. The storm was bearing down, water was rushing by, she's crying and banging on the door, and trying to throw something through the window, so she could get her kids to safety. And, he turned the other way! When asked why he didn't help, he responded, he didn't help b/c he had flip flops on! When he was told they died, he responded that they should not have been outside. Did you see the look of horror on this mother's face after losing two children. Be human you fool, human, if you can manage!

Not only that, he wouldn't even call 911. I hope they prosecute him. New York has some crazy laws.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://updates.jezebel.com/post/34849567399/mothers-two-sons-die-during-hurricane-after-she-is

This article isn't the woman's account -- it's her sister giving the quotes.

But, the woman was on an empty porch (no neighbor sitting with his back against the door) and she didn't have her kids with her at the time. She had already lost them.

In the CNN story he said he sat with his back to the door all night. "The man told CNN he sat up for the rest of the night, with his back against the door in the kitchen." http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/02/world/americas/sandy-staten-island-brothers/index.html

I don't think we know yet whether she had the kids with her or not. The news stories seem to conflict on that point. CNN says they got her version from the police account and makes it seem like she said the kids were with her.

He also said that he saw a man who never knocked. The man just threw a cement flower pot through his door