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The night started normally enough for Suffolk County fire dispatcher Darin Swicicki, but as Wednesday night’s storm surged, taxing the New York City’s 911 system, he found himself inundated with calls about emergencies unfolding two counties away.
Swicicki, 40, began his shift early at 7:30 p.m. to earn some overtime and avoid traffic as the storm bore down. “After the second or third call it was clear that something was going on that they weren’t able to handle,” he explained.
On a typical night, Suffolk dispatchers in his unit might field about 90 calls. On Wednesday night, 260 calls flooded in, many about emergencies in the city, he said…
