A 2-year-old toddler and his expectant mother were among the seven individuals saved by the humanitarian group Aerial Recovery last night in Tampa.
During a conversation with CNN, Jeremy Locke, the co-founder of the rescue group, recounted the harrowing moment when they had to save the young child and his parents through a window.
“We went in there after midnight it’s cold, it’s wet, it’s rainy. We got the water up to our chest … That was a pretty intense rescue last night,” he shared.
Locke speculated on why the family trio ignored evacuation orders, reminding others that it may not have been economically possible, or they may not have gotten the warnings.
Locke also mentioned that Aerial Recovery has been active in relief efforts following hurricanes Milton and Helene.
He explained that the group receives information about people needing rescue through social media and urged those in need of assistance or aware of others in danger to contact them via their website or online platforms.
“We’ll vet it, and we’ll push a team out there and get them out of harm’s way,” Locke stated.
Photos of families pulled out of flooded complex released as people walk and boat through flood water to safety
Rescuers escorted parents and children after they were trapped in water
Rescuers who got 500 people out of a flooded apartment complex in Clearwater, Florida, have released the photos of some of the families carrying their children to safety after they were left stranded during Hurricane Milton.
The individuals were rescued by Clearwater Police, Clearwater Fire & Rescue Department, and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
Mayor Bruce Rector says the complex was left uninhabitable, leaving the 500 individuals homeless. “These are folks who didn’t have much, and they’ve lost everything. They lost their vehicles, all their personal belongings,” said Rector.
He added that individuals were stuck, some neck and chest deep, during the flood. The building was just outside the evacuation zone, so individuals buckled in for the storm, never expecting they would get horrifically flooded.
