Brittany Grant watched the rising floodwaters outside her Florida home last Monday, hoping the sandbags she placed by her front door would keep the flood at bay. But after a few hours, water began to spread across her single-story home.
“And then it just didn’t stop,” Grant said.
Radar estimates showed about half a year’s worth of rain – up to 28 inches – fell along portions of Florida’s central coast between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening. Grant’s home in Palm Bay sat right in the flood zone. Grant said she called 911 but was told first responders were too busy to immediately help.
Grant watched water take over her home as she perched on her king-size bed with her 11-year-old son and her three dogs. Water sent chairs and plants floating around the house.
The water rose above Grant’s knees and almost as tall as her bed. She and her son, Nikoa Pastorius, moved to the kitchen counter, where only two days earlier, Grant had served candy and other treats for a Halloween party.
Grant said she couldn’t bear the thought of abandoning her dogs, Diamond, Delilah and Azzy. Desperate, she shared a video on Facebook from her counter just before noon.
“We’re OK right now,” Grant, 42, said in the video. “I don’t – I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Dozens of people shared the video, and Grant posted an update from her counter about 90 minutes later.
“We’re pretty scared,” she said. “We’re hanging in there. The water keeps getting higher, though.”
About an hour later, Grant heard voices outside of her front door, followed by a knock. She trekked through the floodwater to find Lucas Marshall, 17, outside on a blue and white inflatable paddleboard.
Marshall’s mother, Stephanie Fanguy, saw Grant’s posts on Facebook and realized they lived in the same neighborhood, though floodwater had not reached Fanguy’s home. She asked Lucas and her other son, Jonah Marshall, 15, to help Grant.
“I’m a single mom of three boys, and I would do anything to protect them,” Fanguy said. “And I know she was doing the same thing.”
Her sons said they wanted to help. Lucas hopped on a paddleboard and Jonah borrowed a kayak from his neighbor.
At Grant’s house, Lucas grabbed Nikoa and paddled about 100 yards to dry land, through water filled with submerged cars and mailboxes.
Lucas returned to grab Azzy, a small dog, and Delilah, a Great Dane who struggled to fit on the board. Jonah took the third dog, Diamond, on the kayak.
After Nikoa and the dogs were safe, Jonah returned to pick up Grant, who repeatedly thanked him.
“It feels good that you’re helping someone out,” said Jonah, a high school sophomore.
A neighbor with a truck showed up and drove Grant, Nikoa and the dogs out of the area.
Lucas stayed on his paddleboard to check if others needed assistance. He said he wants to study nursing in college next year so he can “help people any way I can.”
Grant went to a friend’s house about 3 miles away. She struggled to sleep that night, imagining her flooded home and her valuables, including artwork her late grandmother gifted her.
She became emotional when she returned to her house in the early morning Tuesday, after the floodwater had receded. The structure was intact, she said, but many of her possessions were damaged. She has not done a full assessment, and was not sure yet what happened to her artwork.
Grant said she reminded herself that her family was safe, and decided to focus on the kindness of her teenage neighbors.
“My faith in humanity,” she said, “has been restored.”
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