TWO little boys who lost their lives during Hurricane Sandy are Irish, it emerged today.

Connor and Brandon Moore, aged two and four, were swept away in a rushing storm water surge after their mother, Glenda Moore, pulled them out of her SUV and tried to wade through the floods in Staten Island, New York.

Her husband Damien, originally from Co Donegal, was working for the city council when it happened.

Ms Moore told police her car stalled and she became stranded in the marsh when the left her home in search of higher ground as the storm worsened.

She got out of the car clutching Connor and Brandon by the hand.

As the surge came through, she lost her grip on her sons and they were swept away by the water.

She was nearly swept away herself, but clung to a tree until she was able to swim to safety.

Ms Moore found neighbors and begged them for help, but they refused due to the conditions.

She said she waited outside, in the elements, until 8am, when she found a police officer.

Speaking this morning, Father Philip Daly, a priest in the Donegal Parish of Portnoo, said everyone was devastated by the tragedy, which he said was hard to accept.

He described how the boys’ mother made valiant efforts to save her boys, however, her pleas for help fell on deaf ears.

“I think that what added to the awfulness of the situation was the lack of support”.

He added there “was no support forthcoming from some of the people in that area, when Glenda went to the doors looking for help, where they basically closed the doors in her face so this compounded the awfulness of the situation”.

- Niall O’Connor     

Peter Phillip Hyett, age 64, died after the charter boat, The Maroshka, capsized near Duiker Island around 3pm on Saturday, the city said in a statement.

He had been on holiday to Cape Town with his family: his wife Suzanne Linda Hyett, age 49, and his daughter Helen Hyett, age 37.

Suzanne Linda Hyett was taken to the Grootte Schuur hospital for treatment and observation. She was discharged this morning.

Helen Hyett was taken to the False Bay hospital and was discharged on Saturday night.

The family had been on holiday in Cape Town since October 1 and were due to return on Sunday, the day after the accident.

He was one of two people to die in the accident.

The body of John Roberts, a crew member, was found 21 metres below the surface at 11am on Sunday by divers of the SA Navy.

About 34 people were rescued and taken to the Hout Bay NSRI sea rescue station.

Initially the NSRI said that four people died and that 33 or 34 people were on board, but later revised the numbers. The NSRI said it was initially believed that up to six people were missing and this number was later revised to four people still missing. It was later confirmed that 38 people had been on the boat when it capsized.

The SA Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) has deployed a tug boat to recover the charter boat and begin an investigation into the cause of the accident.

When the NSRI arrived they found that some people had been rescued by two charter boats. At the time, four people were still missing, three women and one man.

Three were found inside the hull, using air pockets to breathe.

They were all rescued by divers.

Two of the women are believed to be from the United Kingdom.

Of those rescued, 24 people were hospitalised for further medical treatment. Twelve people did not require to be hospitalised and were assessed and treated for hypothermia before they were released.

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Duiker Island is a popular whale-watching spot.

Roberts’ body was hauled out of the icy Atlantic Ocean, from 21m under the water, shortly after 11am yesterday by navy divers.

Roberts is believed to have saved the life of a young passenger by giving him his life jacket.

Hennie Reid yesterday spoke of his nephew’s selfless devotion to others.

“He was a people’s person. He gave his life jacket to someone else and lost his life to save a life,” said Reid.

Relatives gathered outside the National Sea Rescue Institute building at the harbour early yesterday after they received confirmation that his body would be brought there.

The provincial head of the SA Maritime Safety Authority, Dave Colly, yesterday said a thorough investigation into the capsizing would be launched.

“We need to see [the Miroshga] and rip it apart and see what went wrong,” said Colly.

He would not be drawn on reports that Roberts gave his life jacket to a child passenger but he said that ascertaining the number of life jackets available on the Miroshga would be part of the investigation.

“It is very important to find out what sequence of events led to that situation because it need not have happened.

“There are supposed to be several levels of safety so that even if one fails you’re still okay.”

A tour guide website describes the Miroshgaas a custom-built catamaran that “complies with all safety regulations as per marine authorities”.

According to the website, the vessel was “fitted with 42 individual high-backed chairs, and a toilet and observation/photographic platform. A qualified/registered skipper and whale specialist guide are in charge of the vessel.”

A friend of Roberts, Moses Phillips, 38, said he had no doubt that Roberts would give his life jacket to a child in need.

Greg Louw, a Hout Bay community activist and part owner of Southern Ambition Marine Safaris, which owned the vessel, could not be reached yesterday.

Hyett, from Vale of Glamorgan, in Wales, was on his penultimate day in South Africa with his wife Suzanne, 63, and their daughter, Helen, when they decided to take in some whale-watching.

On Saturday, Hyett was the first confirmed casualty.

His wife was taken to Groote Schuur Hospital. She was resuscitated after being plucked from the water by the rescue divers.

Staff at Groote Schuur said that Suzanne had been discharged from the hospital shortly after midday and had returned to a Camps Bay guesthouse where the couple had been accommodated since their arrival in South Africa on October 1.

“She’s absolutely stable and thankful to the people who rescued her,” said a staff member at the hospital.

But she refused to speak to the media yesterday after staff from Cape Town’s Disaster Management Centre took her back to the guesthouse.

City Disaster Management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said the City of Cape Town would help arrange accommodation for the family until arrangements had been made to repatriate Hyett’s body.

Two other British tourists were trapped in the hull of the boat for almost four hours. They were rescued late on Saturday night.

Both tourists, Bronwyn Armstrong and Lynette Hartmann, have been discharged from hospital.

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