Woman killed during birthday bash as nail from roof ripped off by Hurricane Ian pierces artery
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA: Nishelle Harris-Miles, a 40-year-old woman, died after a nail from the roof pierced her artery during Hurricane Ian in Florida where she was celebrating her birthday with friends. The group of four women traveled from Dayton, Ohio, to celebrate Nishelle's 40th birthday.
According to WLWT, the victim's cousin, Chanel Matson, has revealed some of the details of Nishelle's death via a now-deleted Facebook video on her page. Maston stated that the group was trapped in the house for almost 14 hours as the water kept rising.
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According to WDTN, after the incident, Nishelle captured the video to check with her loved ones and said, "We strapped ourselves to each other with a sheet, laid on the mattress. That water came out that floor so fast, so quick. The roof was smashing us."
She added, "We tried to kick off the roof and lay on the mattress. It kicked off that roof, so that roof wouldn't smash us and the roof went, and we went." "We started calling people before the water really started rising," Maston said. She claimed, "We called 911. We called 211. We called everybody to get us out of there, and nobody came." She then went on to add that her cousin, Nishelle, was fatally struck by a nail from the collapsing roof, "She got trapped under. A nail pierced her main artery, she just turned 40. Sept. 23, she just turned 40. She died nine days after her birthday." Maston also claimed, "She loved everything, she loved life."
Nishelle died on Thursday, September 29, reports Daily Mail. The other three women flew down to Ohio on Friday, September 30, however, the remains of the victim still lie in Florida. On Sunday, October 2, a balloon release occurred in honor of Nishelle at her home in Dayton, Ohio. Her daughter wrote on Facebook, "Hey everyone we are having a Balloon release tomorrow for my mom between 5:30 -6 tomorrow at our house.Blue and white balloon."
Meanwhile, according to CNN, hurricane Ian killed almost 76 people and more than 1,100 people have been rescued from various parts of southwest and central Florida and 800 were rescued in Lee County.
The publication also suggested many of the deaths due to hurricane have taken place in Lee County, which includes Fort Myers and Sanibel Island, where at least 42 people died. The storm is said to have weakened by Saturday, October 1, as it moved into the mid-Atlantic, however, it has left thousands of Floridians without power and water.