Teens Use Kayak and Paddleboard to Rescue Flooded Florida Family
By @sharedot · · 6 pages
- Positive
- Human Interest
- Florida Floods
Two teenage brothers paddled through Palm Bay floodwaters to rescue Brittany Grant, her 11-year-old son and three dogs when 911 had no units to send.
A Facebook SOS when 911 had no answer
Brevard County was hit by what weather reports called a 1,000-year rain event, flooding Palm Bay, Melbourne and Port Lucie.
Brittany Grant, who has lived in her Palm Bay home for eight years without ever seeing floods of such magnitude, watched water pour into the property and took refuge with her 11-year-old son Nikoa and three dogs on top of the kitchen counter.
According to LatiNation, Grant made three desperate calls to 911, but dispatchers told her no units existed in Brevard County to reach her. With official channels collapsed, she turned to Facebook, posting a plea for help that immediately mobilized her neighbors.
Brothers who didn't think twice
Seeing the social media SOS, neighbor Stephanie Fanguy marshalled her teenage sons Jonah, 15, and Lucas Marshall, 17, who grabbed a borrowed kayak and an inflatable paddleboard and navigated submerged streets to Grant's house.
Both sources confirm the teens brought Grant, her son and her three dogs — one of which, per Good News Network, took up half the paddleboard — to safety, with the family sheltering at a friend's house.
Lucas calmed Nikoa, who told Click Orlando he struggles with anxiety, by chatting about school and joking about the strange weather. Jonah explained the brothers' thinking simply: they were in trouble and danger, so he just didn't think about it and went to help.
'My faith in humanity has been restored'
Grant said the community came together and saved her, adding that if not for them she doesn't know how they would have gotten out. 'My faith in humanity has been restored,' she said, noting other neighbors had volunteered to help as well.
Nine days after the surge, according to LatiNation, she was removing debris and interior drywall to prevent mold growth, but her gratitude toward the neighborhood's solidarity remained the lasting mark of the ordeal. The story spread as a rare bright spot amid a devastating flood.
Why the rescue resonates
The rescue is striking on several fronts: emergency services were stretched beyond capacity during the flood, so ordinary recreational gear — a borrowed kayak and a paddleboard — became, as LatiNation put it, genuine instruments of life.
The teens acted without weighing the risks, and the community response extended beyond the Marshall brothers, with other neighbors volunteering.
The episode highlights both the severity of the Brevard County flooding and the strength of neighborhood solidarity in Palm Bay when official systems could not reach a family in danger.