TO THE RESCUE

‘Terrified’ Cat Doing Well After Florida Hero Saves It From Hurricane Ian

The orange and white cat was spotted trapped on an air conditioning unit while flood waters surged below.

One man risked life and limb amid the raging floodwaters of Hurricane Ian Wednesday afternoon to save a small cat. The orange and white patterned feline was spotted trapped atop an air conditioning unit in Bonita Beach, Florida, when Mike Ross, 29, decided to wade through knee-deep rapids to bring it to safety. His girlfriend’s footage of the rescue quickly went viral on Twitter. Ross told The Washington Post that he took the “terrified” cat back to his parents’ home, which he had escaped to in hopes of avoiding the rising storm surge that buried his own home under “10 feet underwater.” He told the Post the cat “looks healthy” and he’ll keep it if its owners can’t be located. When Hurricane Ian hit Florida’s southwest coast late Wednesday, it arrived as a Category 4 storm with wind speeds as high as 150 mph.