Woman Waded Ian Flood Waters to Check On Stranger

A Florida woman braved the Hurricane Ian flood waters after seeing a stranger’s plea on social media. Christine Bomlitz was distraught as Hurricane Ian swept across southwest Florida and she could not get ahold of her 84 year old mother. Bomlitz said her mother Shirley Affolter had lost her cell phone before the storm and an evacuation vehicle had missed her on its route.

Affolter couldn’t escape on her own because she needed a walker to get around and then her landline went down. Flooding in Englewood had cut her off from her neighbors and the rest of the world. With no way to leave, she hunkered down for the night as Hurricane Ian swept across Florida. Hours passed after Ian drifted out to sea but she still had not heard from her mother.

Bomlitz posted pleas for help on social media — anywhere she could. Can someone check on her mother? “I’ve posted all night on all emergency boards as well as all Englewood storm pages checking on people. If anyone knows anyone in Englewood please give them my cell,” she wrote from her home in Las Vegas, nearly 2,500 miles away from where her mother lives in a retirement community.

Bomlitz’s pleas continued well into Thursday as she looked for someone with a boat to carry her mother and others in the neighborhood to safety. By Thursday afternoon, Good Samaritan Cheynne Prevatt, 26, came to the rescue. Prevatt had also ridden out the storm and her home sustained damage. Hurricane Ian peeled away shingles and caved in part of the ceiling when a palm tree smashed into the roof. She said “Our house didn’t really make it. All of our stuff was packed up, and we were trying to go to my grandmother’s house.” But the Florida resident waded into chest-high floodwaters to search for Affolter.

When Prevatt walked through the door she was relieved to find the woman was alive and safe. Prevatt said: “I didn’t know who she was and she was really kind of surprised to see me.” Mother and daughter were able to speak briefly on the phone but their conversation was cut short because her mom’s hearing aids had stopped working. Prevatt was able to send her a photo of her mom smiling — safe and sound which helped ease her worries. She was soon safely removed by a volunteer who had escorted her through the street’s floodwaters by paddleboard.

Bomlitz relayed in a follow-up post on how eternally thankful she was for the “angel strangers” who swam down the street to check-in on her mother. “The amazing souls, complete strangers, who came together and helped me orchestrate this from Las Vegas is astounding. I am deeply and profoundly moved beyond words by people coming together to help each other in such a way to save lives” she wrote. She commended Prevatt for wading through the waist-high water despite losing her own home in the storm. “It’s been an incredible experience. Words cannot express my sincerest gratitude to everyone. I’m thankful for this stranger, a total stranger. People are amazing.”