On Sunday, Aug. 28, Capt. Danny Gluck, commanding officer of the Nassau County Police Five Towns Auxiliary Police Unit 109 was patrolling the Five Towns during Hurricane Irene when he heard a call come over the police radio announcing a woman was stuck in her car on Ibsen Street in Woodmere.

Gluck, who happened to be just two blocks from Ibsen Street, listened to the call and heard that the two responding officers were unable to rescue her. So he raced to the scene in his sport utility vehicle, hoping to aid in the woman’s rescue.

When Gluck arrived on the scene, he saw an elderly woman, stuck in her car amidst three feet of water. She had attempted to drive down Ibsen Street prior to realizing a tree was blocking the way. “By the time I got there the two officers had rolled up their pants and lifted the woman out of her car,” he said.

The officers then put the woman, who is in her 80s, into Gluck’s SUV and he drove her to her Woodmere home. “She was so excited that we came to her rescue,” he said.

The Five Towns Auxiliary Unit is trained for rescues like the one performed on Ibsen Street, Gluck said. “It feels very rewarding,” he said about rescuing the woman. “That’s what we’re trained to do; all the training you get, offers situations like that. I’m just glad I was able to help out.”

Many of the Five Towns Auxiliary Police Officers went above and beyond the call of duty during the storm, including some officers who responded to calls 36 hours straight, Gluck said. “So many calls came over the radio,” he said. “While you can only be in one place at one time, we ended up covering everything we had to.”