Search

Man clinging to esky rescued after Hurricane Milton ravages entire state

A man has been dramatically rescued after he drifted more than 50km out to sea after being hit by the terrifying storm of Hurricane Milton. The record-breaking storm system ravaged the US state of Florida on Thursday, as the death toll has risen to 14 at the time of writing. One fisherman survived the storm by clinging to an esky and was rescued by the US Coast Guard in the Gulf of Mexico after his boat was stranded overnight in dangerous waters. “This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” Lieutenant Commander Dana Grady of the US Coast Guard said of the dramatic rescue. “To understand the severity of the hurricane conditions, we estimate he experienced approximately 75 to 90mph winds, 20- to 25-foot (six to seven metre ) seas, for an extended period of time to include overnight." “He survived because of a lifejacket, his emergency position indicating locator beacon and a cooler.” The storm swept through the city of Tampa, causing widespread destruction throughout the south-east of the state, with many residents now dealing with power outages and extensive debris. Amongst those stranded during the flash flooding were 135 residents of an aged care home, with many wheelchair-bound residents spending the night sitting in water up to their waste before they were rescued the next morning. “This is a neighbourhood that doesn’t have a lot … They’ve lost everything,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister told CNN. “These are people who live day-to-day and they have nothing … Your heart shatters for these people.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said, “We’ll survey the damage and get people back on their feet – we’ll get through this.” Image credits: Instagram - US Coast Guard

Travel Trouble

Grandparents found hugging after being killed by fallen tree

Marcia Savage, 74, and Jerry Savage, 78, had already turned in for the night as Hurricane Helene roared outside. Their 22-year-old grandson, John Savage, had checked in on them to make sure they were fine after he heard a snap. “We heard one snap and I remember going back there and checking on them. They were both fine, the dog was fine." he recalled. But not long after disaster struck and John and his father heard a "boom" as one of the largest trees on their property in Beech Island, South Carolina came crashing down on top of his grandparents' bedroom, killing them. “All you could see was ceiling and tree,” he said. “I was just going through sheer panic at that point.” John said his grandparents were found hugging one another in the bed, in what he described as a final heroic act from Jerry who tried to protect his wife. “When they pulled them out of there, my grandpa apparently heard the tree snap beforehand and rolled over to try to protect my grandmother,” he said. Jerry did all sorts of handy work but worked mostly as an electrician and carpenter. Jerry went “in and out of retirement because he got bored”. “He’d get that spirit back in him to go back out and work," his grandson said. Marcia was a retired bank teller who was very involved in their church. Their daughter Tammy Estep said Marcia loved cooking for her family, especially for Thanksgiving, and was known for her banana pudding. The couple were high school sweethearts and were married for more than 50 years, with Tammy recalling that "their love was immediate, and it was everlasting”. “They loved each other to their dying day,” John said. The couple are among more than 150 people confirmed dead in one of the deadliest storms in US history. A GoFundMe organised for their funeral expenses says that they were survived by their son and daughter, along with their four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Images: Facebook

Caring

“Miracle”: 1-year-old baby survives two days beside highway during hurricane

A one-year-old baby has been found alive on the side of a highway after surviving two days of dangerous hurricane conditions between the Texas and Louisiana border in the US. A truck driver spotted the one-year-old on a major highway, just a few kilometres where the boy's four-year-old brother was tragically found dead in a lake. The one-year-old had to survive stormy weather as Hurricane Beryl inundated the area with heavy rain and high winds, but was relatively unscathed when he was found. The truck driver recalled the moment he found the child to local news station KPLC, saying, "There was a little boy sitting down in the embankment there." "As I approached him, he smiled at me and then he started crying and walked toward me. Once he walked toward me, I grabbed his hand and he stopped crying at that point." Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Gary “Stitch” Guillory said the baby had a few insect bites, but otherwise seemed well. “This kid spent two days out in the weather on the side of the highway,” Guillory said while becoming emotional. “Thank God that trucker seen him. When you look at the video, here he was, you know, crawling toward the highway." “We look at this one-year-old as our miracle baby because he was still alive.” The children’s mother, 25-year-old Aaliyah Jack of Lake Charles, has been charged with failing to report a missing child, while the child's grandmother is fighting for custody of the infant. Image credits: News15

Caring

"That was a scared kitty": Brave Hurricane Ian rescue warms hearts

Hurricane Ian has wreaked havoc in Florida as it made its way through the densely populated city. The category 4 hurricane hit Cayo Costa, just north of the city of Fort Myers, on Wednesday with shocking five metre high waves and winds of around 250 km/h. Videos showing the flow on effects of the powerful hurricane have been shared widely on social media, with one showing a man rescuing a cat warming people’s hearts. “My boyfriend saving a cat from flood waters near Bonita Beach,” Megan Cruz Scavo wrote on Twitter. The man could be seen making his way through knee-high water toward the cat before grabbing it and making his way back to safety. The video soon made the rounds with many congratulating the man for his efforts in saving the poor animal. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> My boyfriend saving a cat from flood waters near Bonita Beach. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HurricaneIan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HurricaneIan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Naples?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Naples</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bonita?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bonita</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FortMyers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FortMyers</a> <a href="https://t.co/BlBC9P1rdy">pic.twitter.com/BlBC9P1rdy</a> — Megan Cruz Scavo (@MeganScavo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MeganScavo/status/1575156353865510912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2022</a></blockquote> “That sweet cat was so scared! Your boyfriend rescuing that little feline darling was a beautiful thing. Karma saw it, and will remember you all,” someone wrote. “So good about being slow and calm! That was a scared kitty too,” another commented. “Watching him approach the cat with respect was beautiful! That poor sweetie was clearly afraid, and trusted him to care for it,” another wrote. The storm, which hit Cuba first unfortunately took two victims, before another 23 migrants were reported missing when the boat they were sailing in sank off the Florida Keys. Deanne Criswell from the Federal Emergency Management Agency said there will be “catastrophic impacts” from the hurricane for a while. “There is going to be catastrophic impacts, and not just where we’re going to see the storm make landfall, but we’re also really concerned about all of the inland flooding because it’s bringing with it a lot of rain and it’s going to move slowly,” she told CNN. Images: Twitter

Family & Pets

Betty White’s touching act of kindness during Hurricane Katrina revealed

Betty White has been remembered and celebrated as a hilarious comedian and brilliant actor, but also a wonderfully generous conversationist, philanthropist, and animal activist, since her <a rel="noopener" href="https://oversixty.com.au/health/caring/betty-white-s-final-words" target="_blank">passing on December 31 at the age of 99</a>. Animals were one of the big loves of Betty’s life, with her writing on Instagram in April 2021 for National Pet Day, “I have been a pet lover all my life” underneath a photo of her with two of her dogs. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CNi0EYGnn11/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CNi0EYGnn11/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Betty White (@bettymwhite)</a> </div> </blockquote> But in addition to owning and caring for pets herself, she also dedicated a lot of time and money to advocating for important causes related to animal welfare and protection. One example was shared by Audubon Nature Institute following her death. The Institute tweeted, “We lost a conservationist, animal advocate, and friend. When the penguins & sea otters were evacuated to @MontereyAq for Hurricane Katrina, Betty White paid for the plane to relocate them. She did not ask for fanfare; she just wanted to help.” Attached was a photo of an employee releasing a penguin into the water. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> We lost a conservationist, animal advocate, and friend. When the penguins & sea otters were evacuated to <a href="https://twitter.com/MontereyAq?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MontereyAq</a> for Hurricane Katrina, Betty White paid for the plane to relocate them. She did not ask for fanfare; she just wanted to help. ❤️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ThankYouForBeingAFriend?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ThankYouForBeingAFriend</a> <a href="https://t.co/NLneNetezz">pic.twitter.com/NLneNetezz</a> — Audubon Nature Institute (@AudubonNature) <a href="https://twitter.com/AudubonNature/status/1477087180816322562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2022</a></blockquote> A spokesperson for the organisation told PEOPLE, "After Hurricane Katrina, a private plane was chartered to relocate Audubon Aquarium's sea otters and penguins to Monterey Bay Aquarium. Audubon did not find out until after the trip that Betty White had paid for a portion of the trip." White was passionate about her animal advocacy work, telling the Wall Street Journal in 2012 that she was thrilled to be able to highlight issues affecting animals through her work with numerous organisations, including PAWS/LA and the Morris Animal Foundation. She also spoke about her own pets, including her beloved Golden Retriever Pontiac, who had a tracking implant that White helped fund the development of. She added, "But he's never very far from me. He doesn't go very far because wherever I am he is." Pontiac passed away in 2017, and White decided not to adopt more animals due to her advancing age. Image: Amanda Edwards/WireImage

News

Passengers terrified as powerful hurricane sends furniture flying on cruise

Passengers on a Royal Caribbean cruise from New Jersey to the Bahamas got the fright of their lives after they were caught in the midst of a hurricane. Filmed on board in 2016, newly-emerged footage shows the terrifying moment the ship encountered the stormy weather, showing outdoor furniture flying through the air, even ripping some of the chairs apart. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DmXXIsrfKaM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> According to Royal Caribbean, no one was seriously injured, however, we’re betting the 4,000 passengers on board might just opt for air travel next time! Have you ever been stuck on a cruise ship during a storm? What was it like? Share your experience with us in the comments below.

Cruising

Over 60

News

Shop

Catalogues

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

Property

Information