"AMERICAN DUNKIRK"

CNN's Michael Smerconish likened the human spirit displayed by volunteers in Hurricane Harvey rescues to the civilian flotillas that helped evacuate British and allied troops at Dunkirk in World War II.

More than 72,000 people have been rescued since Harvey pummeled the Texas coast last week and created catastrophic flooding by lingering for days. After officials made a callout for volunteers, civilians captained everything from "bass boats, jet skis and aluminum dinghies" to ferry residents to safety, Smerconish said in an on-air commentary Saturday.

This kind of everyday heroism, he said, was like an "American Dunkirk."
"In May of 1940, it was the English citizenry who rallied to the rescue of more than 300,000 troops who were trapped on a beach in northern France in the early days of World War II," he said.

Some of the troops could even see their homeland across the English Channel.
close dialog "It was a flotilla of nearly 700 civilian craft -- the 'Little Ships of Dunkirk' -- that made their way from Ramsgate in England to assist with the rescue. And so it was in Texas this week."

Supply quickly outstripped demand in the Houston area, he said, when hundreds of boat owners responded to calls for volunteer help."The resulting flotilla was an American Dunkirk, minus the aerial bombardment, Smerconish added. Although he didn't want to minimize Harvey's devastation, he said he believed the situation could have been much worse, "were it not for the human spirit."

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