Indian Rocks Beach surfer Marty Thomas rescued more than a dozen people along with their pets using his surfboard. FOX 13 Tampa tells the story of the rescue and speaks with one of the people he saved.
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. – During Hurricane Helene’s wrath along the Gulf Coast on Thursday, an Indian Rocks Beach surfer paddled toward the screams of people crying out for help from their flooded homes.
According to a report from FOX 13 Tampa, Marty Thomas rescued more than a dozen people along with their pets using just his surfboard.
Anne McIntosh, a 27-year resident of Indian Rocks Beach, was one of those he saved from the storm surge. She said she didn’t know how she would escape when her home took on several feet of water, especially because the door wouldn’t open.
“The beds were floating. The couch was floating. My brother and his wife were on the counters,” McIntosh said.
All three yelled for help, and two blocks down the street, Thomas heard the screams. He threw his surfboard out the window and started paddling towards the sound.
“I was walking around in the back unit just thinking, ‘What am I going to do?’ And all of a sudden I hear a voice, and he’s saying, ‘We’ll get you. We’ll get you.’ And it was Marty,” McIntosh said.
Thomas and his friend were able to pry the door open and get McIntosh, her brother and his wife to safety, and they weren’t the only ones.
“You’re the angel of the city,” McIntosh said of Thomas.
Leah Craig Chumbley with Asheville’s Brother Wolf Animal Rescue says they are working around the clock to get animals out of the danger zone. “We lost everything. Our buildings were completely flooded. Everything we have is gone.”
For hours, the surfer used his board to rescue about a dozen people and their pets.
“She had the St. Bernard, which is a heavy dog, you know, so she couldn’t lift the dog. So, I just picked the dog up and threw it out the window. He jumped right on the paddle board and was good,” Thomas said.
His friend on a second-floor balcony guided him using a flashing light, paddling toward any sound of people yelling for help.
“He saved us,” McIntosh said. “He got the door open. He paddled us across to safety. And just as an angel walking.”
“Anne is tough. She didn’t even need my help,” Thomas said. “It was up to here on her. She was carrying stuff on her head.”
McIntosh said before Hurricane Helene, it never flooded once in her area. Regrettably, she said she stayed, which is something she knows she’d never do again.
“I never flood,” McIntosh said. “Well, I flooded. I’ve learned a good lesson. Thanks to my angel here. I have the choice. Next time, I will evacuate.”
She said she will be forever grateful for Thomas.
“He’s an angel walking. He is the hero of Indian Rocks Beach now. And you do it so gracefully. Thank you. And I love you for it. And you deserve all the good things in life,” she said to Thomas.
“Thank you. I appreciate that. You’re pretty awesome yourself,” Thomas replied.
The cleanup continues in several coastal communities in Florida after Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region last week. FOX 13 Tampa Reporter Kellie Cowan joined FOX Weather from Crystal Beach with the latest on recovery efforts in the wake of the disaster.