Neighbors Unite to Bring Safety and Hope During Florida Flood
When floodwaters swept through Palm Bay, Florida, Rick Addante knew that two neighbors across the street would need more than a warning to reach safety. They would need someone beside them.
One was Terry, an 80-year-old recovering from open-heart surgery. The other lived with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, and used a motorized wheelchair. As the water climbed, Addante stepped forward to help—joining a community-wide effort that brought neighbors, church members, and wildlife officers together.
“It really was a big team effort of a lot of people from a lot of churches, and neighbors who came together,” Addante said.
The extraordinary rainfall had left little time to prepare. Palm Bay was among the east Florida communities hit by a storm described as a 1,000-year rain event, with between 16 and 22 inches falling on Monday alone.
“It was really like a Biblical flood. It just came on so fast and rose so quickly that it caught everyone unprepared,” Addante said.
For Terry, even moving through his own home had become exhausting. During a phone conversation with Addante, he explained that the effort was leaving him struggling to breathe. Water inside his house had already reached his knees.
Getting him out would require care. The street separating the neighbors’ homes had become a powerful current, making Addante’s initial plan to bring Terry across too dangerous.
“It was up to his knees inside the house but in the street where we were crossing it was probably up to my shoulders,” Addante told Fox Weather. “I was worried [Terry] was going to get stuck or drown. At first I thought I’d bring him back across the river [street] but it was way too strong.”
Instead, Addante helped Terry reach the highest part of his front lawn, where they could connect with rescuers already working nearby.
Florida Fish and Wildlife officers were navigating the flooded neighborhood in airboats. With their help, Terry and his dog, Bella, were brought to safety. The boats’ loud engines frightened Bella, but she, too, had people there to help her through the ordeal.
Once Terry was safe, Addante and the other rescuers turned their attention to his neighbor with ALS. Elsewhere nearby, three people were stranded upstairs after floodwater submerged the ground floor of their home.
The need was immense, but so was the willingness to help.
Across Brevard County, other residents were also looking out for one another. In another Palm Bay rescue, compassionate neighbors helped a woman, her son, and their three dogs escape the floodwaters.
Such rescues took place in dangerous conditions. Flooded streets can conceal strong currents, displaced manhole covers, electrical hazards, and contaminated water—risks that made the coordinated work of neighbors and rescue crews especially important.
As the water receded, cleanup began, bringing a new set of challenges for families whose homes had flooded. Yet amid the damage, Palm Bay residents had also witnessed something deeply reassuring: people showing up for one another when help mattered most.
For Addante and those who worked alongside him, compassion became action—and gave their neighbors a way to safety.
