Among the different scenes ensuing from Hurricane Milton ravaging Florida with tornadoes and severe flooding, law enforcement rescued a 14-year-old teen stranded on a floating piece of fence, a scene reminiscent of a survival movie.
Sheriff Chad Chronister and #teamHCSO's Marine Unit rescued a 14-year-old boy who was submerged in floodwaters and floating on debris following Hurricane Milton. pic.twitter.com/mOInO7ZM0j
— HCSO (@HCSOSheriff) October 10, 2024
The dramatic rescue unfolded in Tampa when Sheriff Chad Chronister and a Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputy spotted a teenage boy floating on a piece of debris. Floodwaters had risen almost to the roof of a nearby home and the boy, out of breath and waving for help, had been stranded after trying to return home following an evacuation.
"It was literally out of a castaway movie, him laying on top of a fence, waving...gasping for air as we pulled him up," Chronister said in an interview with WFLA.
Video footage shared by the sheriff captured the tense moments as they maneuvered their boat to rescue him. "Let me spin around!" Chronister yells, instructing the boy to "stay right there" before pulling him out of chest-high water and to safety.
The boy spent the storm at a friend's house and was headomg home the next day, unaware of how significant the flooding was when he became trapped. He was able to safely resume his walk home after being rescued by law enforcement.
Chronister emphasized that the area, not previously considered an evacuation zone, suffered unprecedented flooding.
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