TV News Crew Helps Rescue Florida Mother, 4 Kids From Rapidly Rising Milton Floodwaters: 'My Blessing'

• Single mom Amber Henry and her four kids were caught in the flood waters of Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9 and into the early morning hours of Oct. 10
• As the water level rose, Henry feared for their lives until she heard a news crew outside the home she was sheltering in
• WFLA reporter Beth Rousseau heard her calls and helped rescue the family

A television news crew rescued a mother and her four children from rising floodwaters caused by Hurricane Milton on Thursday, Oct. 10, in Lakeland, Fla., according to NBC affiliate WFLA and CNN.

Amber Henry and her children, ages 4, 5, 9 and 10, were trapped in flood waters from 9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9, to 5 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 10. Henry called 911 “for hours," but said emergency responders couldn’t reach them due to hazardous conditions. Henry told CNN that she was in an area where she was informed to shelter in place.

“I even called officials and they told me it was not a mandatory evacuation, and me and my children would be fine. But that was not the case,” she told CNN.

Water began to seep in around 10 p.m., which Henry tried to scoop up and pour down the drain. “But then the house literally ate us up with water,” she recalled, followed by the sound of the transformer going off. She thought her family was going to be electrocuted.

The single mother was also concerned that she and her children could “drown to death,” per WFLA. Her eldest daughter, who turns 11 later this month, feared for her life and said, “‘Mom, I don’t want to die for my birthday.’ ”

“In my mind, I really thought that me and my children wouldn’t make it out alive. Somebody was gonna be gone,” Henry told WFLA.

As their home was flooded and water reached Henry’s waist, the refrigerator began to float away and the five sought safety atop the kitchen counter and oven. She first considered going to a pickup truck near the home and would have tried to sit atop the vehicle with her four kids. But eventually, she broke into her neighbor’s unoccupied home to get to a higher level.

While her neighbor's home was also flooded, the water only reached Henry’s knees. Inside the home, the family of five stayed on a floatation device in the flooding water. Around the same time, a WFLA crew was nearby, and Henry spotted them. Journalist Beth Rousseau heard her call for help. 

“I don’t know what made me open up that window, but I am so glad I did. Because they could have finished that story and packed up and left,” Henry told CNN. “When I seen someone standing in the middle of the road, I knew it was my blessing.”

“I have four kids. They’re in there now. They’re scared. I’m scared,” Henry told Rousseau in the WFLA footage.

“That’s horrible,” Rousseau said. “We’ll be here for a second. I’m going to see if I can find something to paddle out there.”

Minutes later, a man arrived in a Jeep and illuminated a path to safety for the family with his headlights.

The family of five is now recovering at a shelter.

Henry doesn’t know what’s next for her family. She revealed that now they’re homeless, and her car is submerged underwater. “I have nothing,” she said. “The only thing we had was the wet clothes on our backs.”

“I lost our social security numbers. I lost birth certificates. I lost everything,” she said. “I gained courage, gained strength."

"I don’t even have a plan. I’m taking it day by day," she said. "I have to start my whole life over again.”

“Nothing gets worse than this,” she concluded. “Nothing.”