In the conditions of a devastating flood that spread to the southwest Floridaone woman took it upon herself to help an 84-year-old stranger who was thousands of miles away from her daughter, who lives on the other side of the country.
On Sept. 29, Christine Bomlitz took to Facebook to plead for help as Hurricane Ian swept through her 84-year-old mother’s home state, trapping countless people in their flooded homes, unable to escape due to dangerous winds that continue to threaten them. security, and emergency services are pushed beyond the border.
“Do any of my friends from Florida know anyone in Englewood? I need to check on my mom. She doesn’t have a camera. I called to double check, but who knows when that will be,” Ms. Bomlitz wrote.
“The group she signed up for to evacuate the elderly didn’t get her, so she went on her own,” she added in her first social media post, noting that her mother, Shirley Affolter, had not been able to reach her because her cell phone is gone. was missing before the Category 4 hurricane made landfall, and after it made landfall, her landline was knocked out.
The next day, Ms. Bomlitz’s pleas began to turn to desperation, as it had been more than 24 hours since she last heard from her mother, who lives alone in Englewood and requires a walker to get around.
“I posted all night on all the emergency boards and all the storm pages in Englewood, checking on people. If anyone knows anyone in Englewood, please give them my camera,” she wrote from her home in Las Vegas, nearly 2,500 miles from where her mother lives in a retirement community.
In this photo provided by Cheney Prevat, Shirley Affolter was found safe and dry at her home in Englewood, Fla., by Good Samaritan Prevat on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022.
(Cheyne Prevat via AP)
By the same day, Ms. Bomlitz’s calls for help were heard by a local Good Samaritan.
Despite ataa has doesn´t have enough damage to her own home, 26-year-old Cheyne Prevat to check in on the 84-year-old Florida resident to get to her front door through chest-high water.
Much to her relief, Ms. Affolter was alive and well when she stepped through the flooded doorway.
“I didn’t know who she was, but she was very surprised to see me,” Ms. Prevat told The Associated Press after the daring rescue.
After the good Samaritan explained his unexpected presence on Ms Affolter’s doorstep, she was able to connect the 84-year-old woman with her daughter via mobile phone.
The conversation was short-lived, the Associated Press reported, because Ms. Affolter’s hearing aids stopped working and her inability to leave her home meant she had been unable to repair them since the storm hit.
Although her mum was still in shock when Ms Prevat knocked on her door, she was soon brought to safety by a volunteer who escorted her through the flood on a paddle board.
Ms. Bomlitz conveyed in a subsequent post how eternally grateful she was for the “angelic strangers” who floated down the street to check on her mother.
“The amazing souls, complete strangers, who came together and helped me organize this from Las Vegas is amazing. I am deeply and deeply moved that people are coming together to help each other in such a life-saving way,” Ms Prevat wrote, praising Ms Prevat for wading through waist-high water despite to the fact that she lost her own house during the storm. . “It was an incredible experience. Words cannot express my sincere gratitude to everyone.”
Ms. Prevatt’s roof was pierced by a fallen palm tree, making her home uninhabitable in the days after the hurricane left more than 4 million people in the state without power.
“Our house really didn’t make it,” she told The Associated Press. “We have all our things packed and we’re trying to go to Grandma’s.”
In this photo provided by Cheney Prevatt, a Prevatt home seen Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, was damaged by Hurricane Ian and a fallen palm tree, rendering it unlivable in Englewood, Florida
(Cheyne Prevat via AP)
As of Wednesday, a week after the storm swept across the Atlantic Ocean and swept through Florida and South Carolinaalmost 310,000 homes and businesses remained in the dark on the same day as the President Joe Biden traveled to the Sunshine State and promised support in his recovery.
Tens of thousands of homes were re-examined by search and rescue teams after the initial search led to the death toll from Ian – predicted to be costliest storm in the state since 1992 – reached 100.
