Hope by boat: Neighbors rescued neighbors as Ian flooding moved in

NORTH PORT, Fla. - As Hurricane Ian’s eye wall sat over North Port, Alex Keith’s neighborhood turned into a river. 

But Alex didn’t just sit back and wait for help. He joined neighbors, wading in the water and clearing debris and cutting downed trees. 

"You help others when you can and that’s just how I was raised," he said. "My main concern was getting my fiancé Sabrina out and my mom. That was my two goals."

On the second morning after the storm, a small boat brought hope. 

Alex’s mom, fiancé and dogs were brought to dry land. He stayed behind. 

"I told them just to get everybody else out," he said. 

That rescue would be one of hundreds to follow. 

South of North Port, in Punta Gorda, charter captain Rhett Morris received updates from Alex. While Rhett’s home had been damaged, he and a friend loaded up to help. 

"After a storm it doesn’t matter, if someone is in need then that’s what you do," said Morris. "I went to my wife and said look honey, I. I know our roof is ripped up, and I need to get up there and put tar paper and seal things up, but we aren’t going to get any rain and there’s somebody out there that’s a friend of mine that needs help."

Rhett is a charter captain, he met Alex through his passion to keep Florida’s waterway clean, with Captains for Clean Water. 

"When we got there and saw the magnitude of what was happening , we knew that we couldn’t leave," said Rhett.  

After getting Alex to safety, Captain Morris began getting texts to check on people. They used an airboat to shuttle people from their homes to near the interstate.

"It was a very sinking feeling to idle through these homes and through the streets watching people stand inches away from water on their front door step and realizing there’s 4-5 feet of water everywhere and it’s still rising," he said. 

The flooded streets of North Port brought countless others and their boats from in and out of the state. 

"Being in a vessel and looking down and seeing the double yellow lines of roads was really humbling and seeing people’s homes, if a house wasn’t flooded it looked like its own island," said Dallas King. 

Dallas King came from Crystal River and met up with Keith. They began running from sun up to sun down. 

"The very first family that we helped, I think that’s when it really sunk in. It was an elderly women and we helped get her dogs out and she just wanted dry ground and that’s the moment that it was we are here, we are helping, wow we are doing it and it’s real," said King. 

A real feeling many never forget. 

"It was just great seeing a brotherhood of people in the water willing to help," said King. 

The noise of boat motors has disappeared and recovery continues as memories of strangers and their boats, remain. 

"We are all working together, friendly. At the end of it was a real plus too," said Keith.