TAMPA, Fla. — After Hurricane Milton swept through Tampa, pouring record amounts of rain on the area and bringing floodwaters, damage and power loss, first responders sprang into action.
As rescue and recovery efforts were ongoing Thursday morning, the Hillsborough County sheriff and his deputies on the marine unit encountered one particularly distressful situation.
As they went around on rescue watercraft, Sheriff Chad Chronister and a deputy spotted a young boy floating on a piece of debris in the parking lot outside a food mart.
According to a post by the sheriff's office, the boy is 14 years old. There weren't any other details provided about the boy, his situation or how he got stuck in the floodwaters sitting on a piece of floating fence. The boy was alone, and it was unclear if he'd been separated from relatives in the storm.
The rescue happened in high water on N 15th Street in Tampa, less than two miles west of the University of South Florida. The area is a dense residential zone that, in the video, appeared to be submerged in floodwaters stretching out multiple blocks.
Hurricane Milton damage
Originally a tropical storm on Saturday, Milton rapidly intensified in the following days. By early Monday, it had reached Category 2 strength, fluctuating between Category 4 and 5 before settling back to Category 3 as it made landfall.
The storm brought deadly winds exceeding 100 mph to much of Florida’s Gulf Coast, including densely populated areas like Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers.
In St. Petersburg, powerful winds from Hurricane Milton toppled a large construction crane late Wednesday night. The crane collapsed at the 400 Central Avenue construction site.
St. Petersburg recorded over 16 inches of rain, prompting the National Weather Service to issue warnings for flash flooding. Even before making landfall, tornadoes had touched down across Florida.