Man and his dog rescued from disabled boat 25 miles out to sea as Hurricane Helene fast approached

By Jon Haworth

The United States Coast Guard has rescued a man and his dog as Hurricane Helene fast approached them when his boat became disabled and started taking on water 25 miles out to sea, officials said.

The sailor and his dog were on a 36-foot sailboat on Thursday when the boat started taking on water, leaving the man and his canine stranded in the ocean approximately 25 miles off of Sanibel Island with no help or support nearby, according to a statement from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater released early Friday morning.

“Coast Guard crews responded to the boater’s distress call and rushed to the man’s location, approximately 25 miles offshore from Sanibel Island near Fort Myers,” authorities said. “A successful rescue attempt was made and the unidentified sailor and his dog were saved and brought back to land.”

Officials have not disclosed why the man was out to sea while small craft advisories and hurricane warnings had already been issued in the area as Hurricane Helene was expected to make landfall.

Hurricane Helene has officially made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida as a major Category 4 storm with 140 mph winds late Thursday night, with the storm touching down near Perry, Florida, just east of the mouth of the Aucilla River.

Hurricane Helene marks the first Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in Florida's Big Bend Region since at least 1859.

Us Coast Guard Handout via Reuters

A U.S. Coast Guard Air Station crew rescues a man and his dog during Hurricane Helene after his sailboat became disabled and started taking on water off Sanibel Island, Fla., on Sept. 26, 2024.

Just after Hurricane Helene made landfall over Florida, the number of customers without power crossed the 1 million mark and outages have extended into neighboring Southern states with over 46,000 customers without power in Georgia and over 12,400 customers without power in North Carolina, according to powerouttages.us.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp confirmed that two people were killed during Hurricane Helene's passage into Georgia overnight, bringing the storm's total death toll to three.

Kemp said he and his family were "saddened to learn of the loss of two lives in Wheeler County this evening. As we join their families in mourning their deaths, we urge all Georgians to brace for further impact from Helene, remain vigilant and pray for all those affected."

Earlier, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a press conference late Thursday that one person was killed on the I-4 highway near Tampa when a sign fell on a car.