A Naples woman was rescued from her apartment by Greater Naples Fire Rescue after floodwaters from Hurricane Milton trapped her inside.
Stephanie Ressegue said water began seeping through the walls and door of her apartment on Areca Avenue and Bayshore Drive as the storm got stronger.
“The water started coming in from the walls and then my door and in my bathroom,” Ressegue said. “I put my cats in a carrier, and once it got really, really high to the outlets — my main breaker box is in another apartment, so I have no control over flipping that off — so I started unplugging everything I could, and I called the sheriff's department, and I told them, I know you said you weren't coming to rescue anybody, but when you do, come down on Areca, please.”
By 10 p.m., at the peak of the storm, Ressegue grew worried and grabbed her cats and a few essentials as she waited for help to arrive.
Shortly after, Ressegue said she heard Greater Naples Fire Rescue firefighters pounding on the door, which had been blocked by debris pushed up by the floodwaters.
She filmed video of her flooded street and recorded part of the rescue as she and her cats were taken to safety aboard the fire department's tactical vehicle.
While thankful for their quick response, Ressegue said she lost several sentimental items in the flood.
“My rehearsal dinner dress, my, after my reception party dress. My robe that I got ready for my wedding in — just gone,” she said.
She added that, luckily, her wedding dress was at her mother’s house.
“So it's all my wedding cards from my wedding day that got ruined. We tried to dry them out, but all the writing and everything, it's just sentimental things. The furniture is replaceable, you know? We lost it all," she said.
Greater Naples Fire Rescue confirmed this was the department’s only water rescue during Hurricane Milton.