Woman treks through flooding to save horse, barn submerged

Welcome back again. We have a Fox 35 storm team alert this morning because of flooding rains that are impacting so many of you, especially in Brevard County. So that's really where we've been focusing in on the floods. You can see on the left side of your screen. There's downtown Orlando. It is raining, but not to the significant extent that they are experiencing over in the Space Coast area where many roads are shut down. Schools are shut down. County and city offices are shut down. The Melbourne Police Department says do not come to their homes. Our lobby, we just talked to the sheriff, Sheriff Wayne Ivey, just a short time ago. He said they were going to have high water rescue vehicles out to get many drivers who are stranded right now in their cars in the flooded roads. And I actually just got word of a new closure. So just a heads up, even higher up in our viewing area in Volusia County, just got word that we have a flooding closure on 400 Bellevue Road going eastbound at I-95. So just heads up there. All right, we're going to head out to Marlee Capper right now. She is in the midst of it all. We've been called the no-wake zone, and it is still pouring on you, Marley. if you can imagine everybody it's gotten a lot worse the rain is coming down harder we're experiencing lightning and thunder in the area we're staying safe but i want to quickly point out this car behind me you know there's been about at any given point today about 20 25 cars yet people are still driving through thinking that they can make it and then they don't and their cars get stuck and they have to get rescued it's terrible so if you're watching please do not Do not drive, do not get in your cars, it's not worth it, stay home. Turn around, don't drown. Now I'd like to introduce you to a woman that we just met a few moments ago, Miss Christy. So you actually helped a woman get out of this car? Oh, we did, my husband and I. So tell me about what you saw and you sprung into action. There are several people along this road actually that are sitting in their cars with the door shut that we passed several hours ago trying to get to my horse farm. And they're still sitting in their cars, actually. Wow. OK, so you've had a crazy day. Since like 7 this morning, you have been walking through waist deep water at some points. Tell me a little bit about what's been going on and why you've been out here. We got the flash flood warning on our phone and immediately were worried about our miniature horse that's only about waist high. So we've been trying since 7 AM different roads to try to get to her in the June Park area, the Police Foundation Park area. And we finally decided to park at the Dunkin' Donuts and just walk. To her and it's been about waist deep in areas. We finally got to the horse and she was belly up in water. But she's okay. Yeah, both horses are okay. We were able to get them to a different barn by taking down some fence boards and we got her through and our friends helped us to get them in there. And everything in our barn is just floating and underwater. The hay, the grain, our saddles, our equipment. I've covered a lot of hurricanes. This, for me, feels worse. You've been here a long time. How does it feel to you? I was born here in Melbourne. I'm 42, so this is the worst flood I have ever seen. And I've had horses my whole life. I've dealt with all of this, but I've never had it this flooded. I'm very worried. I don't know how long I'm gonna get out there to feed her tonight, to be honest. What are you feeling? What's going through your mind? Cause your barn is flooded. You said there's a lot of houses in that neighborhood that you went through that are flooding too. Yeah. There's water up to people's house. I've heard it's going into their houses. It's a big problem. I don't really know what I, I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know how I'm going to get back out there, but you know, she's safe. We gave them both hay. So, that's the best we can do. Now I'm gonna try and get back to my house and I have kids at my house too. Yeah. Okay, well praise God that your horses are okay. We're praying that this rain settles down a little bit. You said worst you've ever seen in your entire life flooding wise? Worst flooding I've ever seen in this area for sure. Our barn has never been as flooded with all the hurricanes we've had. You know, it floods a lot, though, in Brevard, and this is still the worst. It's never been this deep, I promise. I mean, it was up to here in one area, like my hip bone, trying to get back to my horse. I believe you. I'm just, I'm shocked with you. Okay, thank you so much for staying in the rain to talk to us. And I hope those people will get out of their cars, because I don't know what their plan is, but they obviously don't have A.C. running in there. Yeah. I didn't know if I should try to get them out of the car, but they're not trying to get out. I think they're happy in there. I don't know. We're going to go ahead and pray that they stay safe and that the first responders get to them as soon as possible. Thank you so much. I'll be praying for you. I'm so sorry you're going through this. Thank you, I appreciate it. Wow, I mean, we just ran into her. She came up to the car and said, I had a story. So I was like, we got to talk to you. Let's get one more look at this car right here. This is just one example down this way, and then we'll toss it back to you guys. There's still about 15 cars, you know, Between down this road and now this car that are stranded. And she's reporting that there are some people that are just sitting in their cars. So I'm hoping that the first responders can come get to them as soon as possible. But, yeah, this is the worst that it's been all morning. It's coming down very hard right now. It's really bad. And it's still about two feet by the sidewalks that we're at. At this point, all my pants to my mid-thigh are soaking wet. So it's pretty bad out here. We're going to send these back to you guys, but we'll check in in just a little bit. Okay. I wonder, Marlee, if you can hear me very quickly, is the water just sitting there, or is it moving? Is it like a current, or what is it? I'm here, John Brown, and when cars come and drive, then it adds a little bit of a wake, and then it comes and splashes up to my shins. Thank you. So right now, it looks like it's just sitting, and it's just getting higher and higher. Now, Marlee, you were kind of telling us before about the frequency of cars. When we first saw you around 7 in the morning, it was really bad, how many people were attempting to get out there on the road on 192 where you're at. How many cars have you seen since we last saw you? I'm feeling proud of the drivers that people have stopped trying to come this way. Regardless, they've always had to make a U-turn here. They've never been able to get fully straight through. There were a few cars that tried and you can see that they're still there because they didn't make it through because that's how deep this water is. So thankfully people have been off the road for the past last hour or so, but yeah, it was hundreds of cars coming through here around like 6:37 this morning. And it's raining as hard now as it has all day, so it's not done. Marlee, just be careful out there. And that gal you talked to, wow. Talk about somebody who loves their animals and would do anything for them. So, yeah, she's a good person. Thank you, Marlee. See you, Marlee.