Family of 5, including 8-months pregnant mother, rescued from Florence floodwaters in suspenseful video
Just 45 minutes away from the amusement parks located in Orlando, you can hop on an airboat at Wild Florida and see the beginning of the Everglades, alligators, and other wildlife. However, after a storm as devastating as Hurricane Florence, the airboats aren’t used for shuttling tourists through natural wetlands, they’re used to save lives.
The airboat tour company located in Kenansville, Fla., sent a team to flooded Kelly, N.C., to help with rescues and shared what it calls a “full-blown miracle save” on Facebook.
Over the weekend, a family of five spent hours in chest-deep waters, clinging to tree branches, before Wild Florida workers were able to rescue them from a storm that has already claimed the lives of at least 35 people.
Fortunately, this family — which includes a father with an 8-year-old boy on his shoulders, an eight-months pregnant mother with a 4-year-old girl on her shoulders, a 60-year-old uncle, and the family dog — are now safe.
The Wild Florida crew initially heard the family’s cries for help each time they switched the airboat on and off. The family had reportedly returned to North Carolina too early after they evacuated to Florida.
“Professional rescue teams couldn’t get to them, and they thought this was it,” Jordan Munns of Wild Florida told WFTV.
Jamie Batchelor, a cousin to the father of the family, shared a comment on the video that informed Wild Florida that “the baby is good” and that the baby is still moving.
Batchelor told Yahoo Lifestyle, “They are good, unfortunately, their home was damaged by the storm so they are staying with my grandmother… They are all safe.”
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
