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Woman, Two Dogs Rescued From Rising Floodwaters At Bluff Springs Recreation Area
July 15, 2021
A woman and her dogs were rescued from rising floodwaters Thursday afternoon in the Bluff Springs Recreation Area.
The Fort Walton Beach woman said she had been camping next to one of the gravel lakes for the past three or four days. By Thursday, the water was too deep for her to leave with her dogs or get her vehicle out.
Using a boat belonging to an area resident, Escambia Fire Rescue and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office were able to reach the woman and bring her back to dry land. The ECSO was working to assist the woman with a place to stay and transportation.
The woman and her dogs were not injured.
“I’m just glad you helped us,” she told her rescuers.
For more photos, click or tap here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
8 Responses to “Woman, Two Dogs Rescued From Rising Floodwaters At Bluff Springs Recreation Area”
I am glad the lady, and her pets are OK. Also thank you to the men who went out of their way to rescue her. There could be a time when any of us could need rescuing it is reassuring knowing there are people who are willing to come to one’s aid.
Now for my questions. The article stated, ” The ECSO was working to assist the woman with a place to stay and transportation.” Does she not have a home in Ft. Walton? The article also stated, “The Fort Walton Beach woman said she had been camping next to one of the gravel lakes for the past three or four days.” Why couldn’t she return home? Does she not have transportation here? Is there any family members that can be called to assist her?
REGARDING:
“While we’ve had a lot of rain lately, I would not have suspected it would rise that fast.”
Most likely folks at the dams north of Andalusia opened the locks to protect the facilities and water levels. It doesn’t have to rain here to fill Gantt Lake or Point A Lake to overflowing.
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Sounds like she fell on hard times and things got even worse. No reason to kick her while she’s down. Hope things turnaround for her.
I spoke to this nice lady on Tuesday out there. At that time the water was a foot and a half below the small bridge that is entirely submerged in the photos. I was able to get to the campsite area after driving through one area of 6-8 inches of water across the gravel driveway. That’s it. While we’ve had a lot of rain lately, I would not have suspected it would rise that fast. We talked about the water level and she said she had been watching reports and was keeping an eye on it.
It’s a good thing that the people we call to help us can’t see or hear what we’ve said about others when they needed help. I’m glad to see she made it out safely.
She is homeless. There will be a lot more situations like this in our emergency responders futures.
Here’s a question that comes to mind reading this story. How does the Northwest Florida Water Management District (based in Havana north of Tallahassee) alert campers that they need to break camp and get the heck out of there? Does anyone from the District or anyone else ever check the campsites? The District uses an online system to take reservations. Do they send e-mail/text/voice alerts to campers? Looking at the white pickup go through the water, it might have been better to bring in the Sheriff’s High Water Rescue Vehicle for this one. Did this lady have a reservation or was she just hanging out and so the District might not know that she was there?
@sam did you not see the part where she isn’t from here? I sure don’t know pflood patterns for places I’m not familiar with. She may not have thought it would get that bad or thought it would fall out sooner. Don’t be rude. This was a good ending to this scenario, I’m glad she and her dogs are safe. Good job ECSO, ECFR, and the citizen who loaned out his boat to help.
there is no accounting for lack of common sense. it puts other people in a position to risk injury in an effort to rescue the clueless.