Hurricane Ian: Florida teenager tries to rescue six-year-old brother from flooding canal, both drown
LEHIGH, FLORIDA: In the midst of Hurricane Ian, a teenager drowned while trying to save his little brother who washed away in a flooding canal near their home.
Tahjir Burrowes, 6, wandered out of his house on October 5 and headed straight for a flooding canal when he saw an opportunity to escape after the hurricane destroyed the fences of their home. His 17-year-old brother, Tahjon, sensed what happened as soon he stepped out of the bathroom and saw his non-verbal brother missing.
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“Mom, mom, mom! Tahjir got out of the house!” he informed his mother, Lachera, and rushed out of the house in the search of his brother, NBC News reported. Soon, Lachera too jumped in the car and headed to the flooding canal near their home in Lehigh, Florida. Upon her arrival, all she saw was flooding water and all heard was silence. “I saw nothing,” she said “Quiet.”
The single mother immediately called the police and searched the streets hoping to find her sons. Hours later, a detective arrived at her door and informed her that the authorities located the bodies of her sons. The devastated mother, who worked as an addiction counselor, knew that Tahjon must have jumped into the canal to save his Burrowes. “I don’t know if one could be without the other. He could not stand there and not jump in,” she said, adding that she would have done the same if she had arrived at the canal earlier.
Lachera said Burrowes and Tahjon were like best friends despite the age gap. She added Tahjon was a loving brother who knew how to keep his little brothers happy and calm. Despite living paycheck to paycheck, Lachera did everything to be a good mother to her three sons. She even shelled out money for a hotel in Port St Lucie so she could evacuate with her three sons and her mother. A spokesperson for the Lee County Sheriff's Office confirmed the deaths of the two brothers, adding that no foul play was suspected.
Hurricane Ian is recorded as the deadliest in the country of Florida since 1935. It has already claimed the lives of more than 130 people according to the reports by local authorities. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told Good Morning America, "Thousands of people are waiting to be rescued, I cannot give a true assessment until we are on scene assessing each scene, and we can’t access people that is the problem." He described the monstrous storm as "a life-changing event" for everyone and "unpredictable."