Coast Guard pilot describes ‘insane’ rescue of man floating on cooler in Gulf after Hurricane Milton
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
(LONGBOAT KEY, Fla.) — When Coast Guard pilot Lt. Ian Logan went out to search the waters off Longboat Key in the wake of Hurricane Milton roaring ashore on the western Florida coast, he didn’t expect to find anyone who needed help.
To all of their surprise, he and his crew found a man clinging to a cooler 30 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico.
“We thought it might’ve been a buoy,” Logan said. “I remember looking down and seeing the strobe and like seeing him holding on to the cooler. So once we pulled up in that 50-foot hover right next to the guy, we’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s on like a cooler that’s opened up and he’s just floating on it,’ which is insane.”
The man had gone out to his boat early Wednesday to make repairs after it became disabled earlier that week approximately 20 miles off John’s Pass, a barrier island west of St. Petersburg, according to the Coast Guard. As he was bringing the boat back to port, it got disabled again, the Coast Guard said.
The man contacted the Coast Guard, hoping for help. But weather conditions had already started to deteriorate as Milton approached Florida’s west coast, and the Coast Guard said it instructed him to put on a life jacket and “stay with the vessel’s emergency position indicating radio beacon.” The Coast Guard said it then lost contact with the man at 6:45 p.m. ET Wednesday.
By the time he was found, with his boat long gone, Logan said the man was essentially strapped to the cooler.
“I didn’t believe it at first. There are a lot of questions going through my head. So I paused for like, 10 seconds, as we’re making this turn, going to make our approach to the water,” Logan said. “And I’m like, ‘Are you sure?’ And the swimmer is like, ‘Yes, he’s waving his hands at us like, this is the guy.’ And I remember all of us are like, ‘My goodness, I can’t believe we’re so excited that we found this guy.’ Like searching for a needle in a haystack.”
“I look back over my shoulder and he’s over my back right shoulder and I see this guy — hair looks like the ‘Castaway’ movie, where he’s covered in salt,” he said. “He’s got a life vest on, he’s soaked. And at that point, it really set in, like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe we just found this guy.'”
Logan said the moment was one of the highlights of his career.
ABC News’ Leah Sarnoff and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A wintry blast is slamming the Great Lakes region with 3 to 5.5 feet of snow — and more lake effect snow is in the forecast for later this week.
Monday’s intense lake effect snow band from Lake Michigan brought 7.5 inches of snow and whiteout conditions near Hartford in western Michigan, where a pileup closed Interstate 94 in both directions.
About 14 passenger vehicles and three semitrucks were involved in the crash, according to the Michigan State Police. One driver was critically hurt.
A winter storm warning is ongoing in western Michigan.
“Please drive safely and just stay home if it’s unnecessary to drive,” state police said.
Cars left abandoned in Erie, Pennsylvania Hard-hit Erie, Pennsylvania, which has been blanketed in snow since late last week, remained under an emergency declaration Tuesday.
Crews there were having a difficult time with snow removal efforts due in part to the number of abandoned vehicles on snow-covered roads.
There were an estimated 240 vehicles scattered across the city, “which have greatly impacted our ability to remove the snow,” Erie Bureau of Fire Assistant Chief Gregory Purchase told reporters Tuesday.
“We have deployed more resources, personnel and equipment from every part of the state, as far as Philadelphia, to come to Erie County to help support the situation here and to continue to clean out the state route system,” said PennDOT District Representative Brian McNulty.
McNulty characterized it as the “largest statewide response to a snow event in recent history.”
In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency in the area around Cleveland and four Northeast Ohio counties in response to the heavy snowfall there — with the possibility of more snow this week. The counties affected are Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lake counties. The governor’s office said snow squalls and gusty winds leading to some gales across Lake Erie are possible.
Meanwhile, from a separate storm system in Iowa, three people were killed in a car crash on Monday when a driver crossed into the oncoming traffic lane to try to pass a snowplow, according to The Associated Press. Two people were also killed in Kentucky on Monday in a crash on an interstate, the AP said.
A lake effect snow warning remains in effect through Tuesday evening for Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, where another 4 to 8 inches of snow is expected.
A new storm system will move in Wednesday, behind this system. One to 2 feet of lake effect snow is forecast for Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.
The heaviest snow will be closer to the lakes, but a rain and snow mix is possible from northern New Jersey to Maine Tuesday night into Wednesday.
No snow accumulation is forecast for the Interstate 95 corridor, but up to 9 inches of snow is possible from Vermont to northern Maine.
Libby Bush/Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community
(ASHEVILLE, NC) — More than three weeks ago, Hurricane Helene knocked out the power and running water at James Greene’s nursing home in Asheville, North Carolina.
Today, Greene, 84, and his fellow residents at Brooks-Howell Home still do not have regular access to safe, running water for their daily activities.
“For two weeks we’ve been unable to shower or wash hands,” Greene wrote in a letter to family and friends, which was shared with ABC News. “Maintaining hygiene with hand sanitizers is a constant must.”
“Another example is having to pour a bucket of water into the tank of the toilet in order to flush. And keep in mind that our residents are old and not used to such physical activity,” wrote Greene.
Greene’s nursing home is not the only one in North Carolina affected by the ongoing water crisis in Asheville. While bottled water is adequate for cooking and drinking, the lack of municipal running water places severe restrictions on activities like handwashing, showering and laundry.
In nursing homes particularly, infections can travel quickly, making access to clean running water an even more urgent necessity.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), floodwater from hurricanes can contaminate local water sources with “germs, dangerous chemicals, human and livestock waste” and other contaminants that can cause disease.
On Oct. 16, the City of Asheville Water Resource Department issued a Boil Water Notice for all water customers that is still in effect, meaning “there is contamination due to impacts from Hurricane Helene including the potential for untreated water in the distribution system,” according to the notice.
The elderly are particularly at risk of infection due to many factors, including reduced immunity, existing chronic illness, and exposure to pathogens in hospitals and nursing homes.
Kimberly Smith is the vice president of operations for Ascent Healthcare Management, a company that runs six retirement facilities in Western North Carolina. As of Oct. 18, three of the company’s Asheville locations still do not have running water, Smith told ABC News.
Even after running water returns, Smith said that she anticipates her facilities will be under the Boil Water Notice for quite some time.
Libby Bush, president and CEO of Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community, located in Asheville, said her facility is also currently under the Boil Water Notice.
“It has been challenging to keep up with the current and most accurate information,” she told ABC News.
Greene said he and other nursing home residents are deeply appreciative of the nursing home staff and government assistance in the wake of Hurricane Helene. While he now understands the scale of Helene’s destruction, Greene said in his letter that his initial days during and immediately after the storm were spent in seclusion, with the initial lack of internet, landline, and cell phone service contributing to “an utter sense of isolation.”
“The fact that no [one] called in, or could call out, made it worse,” he told ABC News.
Smith added that many nursing home residents suffered “an emotional toll” because they weren’t able to get in touch with their families.
Phone and internet services have been largely restored, Smith and Bush separately told ABC News.
Smith is also grateful for the shower trailers, portable toilets, hand washing stations and extra generators provided by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the state’s Office of Emergency Medical Services, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
They brought “a lot of things that we tried to get on our own and couldn’t,” Smith said. “All the regulatory people have kind of come together to help the nursing homes.”
Still, there’s a long road to recovery ahead for senior care facilities in Asheville.
Greene visited a Red Cross/FEMA disaster assistance center in Asheville and was impressed by the resources provided.
“It distresses me and others to see the negative reporting on FEMA and the Red Cross,” he said.
“The senior citizens here, many of them retired deaconesses and missionaries, dealt well with the hardship conditions,” Greene added of his fellow nursing home residents. “No doubt we are a bit traumatized, but God was good to us.”
Sejal Parekh, M.D. is a board-certified practicing pediatrician and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(NEW YORK) — As New York City prosecutors worked Thursday to bring murder charges against Luigi Mangione in the brazen killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, supporters of the suspect are donating tens of thousands of dollars for a defense fund established for him, leaving law enforcement officials worried Mangione is being turned into a martyr.
Several online defense funds have been created for Mangione by anonymous people, including one on the crowdfunding website GiveSendGo that as of Thursday afternoon had raised over $50,000.
The GiveSendGo defense fund for the 26-year-old Mangione was established by an anonymous group calling itself “The December 4th Legal Committee,” apparently in reference to the day Mangione allegedly ambushed and gunned down Thompson in Midtown Manhattan as the executive walked to his company’s shareholders conference at the New York Hilton hotel.
“We are not here to celebrate violence, but we do believe in the constitutional right to fair legal representation,” the anonymous group said in a statement.
The crowdfunding campaign prompted donations from more than 1,500 anonymous donors across the country, many of them leaving messages of support for Mangione, including one person who called themselves “A frustrated citizen” and thanked Mangione for “sparking the awareness and thought across this sleeping nation.”
The GiveSendGo fund for Mangione appeared to be briefly taken down before it was restored on Thursday.
In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for GiveSendGo said the company “operates with a principle of not preemptively determining guilt or innocence.”
“Our platform does not adjudicate legal matters or the validity of causes. Instead, we allow campaigns to remain live unless they violate the specific terms outlined in our Terms of Use. Importantly, we do allow campaigns for legal defense funds, as we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to access due process,” the GiveSendGo spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added, “We understand the concerns raised by such campaigns and take these matters seriously. When campaigns are reported, our team conducts a thorough review to ensure they comply with our policies. While other platforms may choose a different approach, GiveSendGo’s core value is to provide a space where all individuals, no matter their situation, can seek and receive support, with donors making their own informed decisions.”
Other crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe have also taken down campaigns soliciting donations for Mangione’s defense.
“GoFundMe’s Terms of Service prohibit fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes,” the crowdfunding website said in a statement. “The fundraisers have been removed from our platform and all donors have been refunded.”
Amazon and Etsy have removed from their websites merchandise featuring Mangione, including T-shirts and tote bags reading “Free Luigi” and the phrase “Deny, Defend, Depose,” words police said were etched in the shell casings discovered at the scene of Thompson’s homicide.
“Celebrating this conduct is abhorrent to me. It’s deeply disturbing,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told ABC News senior investigative reporter Aaron Katersky in an interview Wednesday night. “And what I would say to members of the public, people who as you described are celebrating this and maybe contemplating other action, that we will be vigilant and we will hold people accountable. We are at the ready.”
Prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney’s office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to try to secure an indictment against Mangione, sources told ABC News on Thursday.
Mangione’s attorney, Thomas Dickey of Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested Monday following a five-day manhunt, said his client is presumed innocent and will plead not guilty to any charges filed against him. Mangione is contesting extradition to New York.
Asked about people contributing to Mangione defense funds that have popped up, Dickey said, “People are entitled to their opinion and, like I said, if you’re an American and you believe in the American criminal justice system, you have to presume him to be innocent and none of us would want anything other than that if that were us in their shoes. So, I’m glad he had some support.”
But law enforcement officials have expressed concern that Mangione is being turned into a martyr. Someone this week pasted “wanted posters” outside the New York Stock Exchange naming other executives.
A bulletin released Wednesday by the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center, a multi-agency law enforcement intelligence-sharing network based in Philadelphia, included a photo of a banner hanging from an overpass reading, “Deny, Defend, Depose.”
“Many social media users have outright advocated for the continued killings of CEOs with some aiming to spread fear by posting ‘hit lists,'” the bulletin, obtained by ABC News, reads.
Meanwhile, New York Police Department investigators continue to build a murder case against Mangione, who is being held in Pennsylvania on charges stemming from his arrest there, including illegal possession of ghost gun and fraudulent identification. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Pennsylvania.
On Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that the three shell casings recovered at the scene of Thompson’s shooting matched the gun found in Mangione possession when he was arrested. She also confirmed that Mangione’s fingerprints were recovered from a water bottle and the wrapper of a granola bar found near the crime scene.
