A Dayton, Ohio, family is dealing with the loss of a loved one who died while vacationing in Fort Myers, Florida as it was rocked by Hurricane Ian last week.
Nishelle Harris-Miles and three other women from Dayton travelled to Florida to celebrate her birthday but their trip took a tragic turn when the strength of the storm tore down the roof of their room, killing Harris-Miles.
'She Got Trapped Under'
According to WLWT, the victim's cousin, Chanel Matson, has revealed some of the details of Nishelle's death via a now-deleted Facebook video on her page. Maston stated that the group was trapped in the house for almost 14 hours as the water kept rising.
Nishelle wrote, "We strapped ourselves to each other with a sheet, laid on the mattress. That water came out that floor so fast, so quick. The roof was smashing us." "We started calling people before the water really started rising," Maston said. She claimed, "We called 911. We called 211. We called everybody to get us out of there, and nobody came."
She then went on to add that her cousin, Nishelle, was fatally struck by a nail from the collapsing roof, "She got trapped under. A nail pierced her main artery, she just turned 40. Sept. 23, she just turned 40. She died nine days after her birthday." Maston also claimed, "She loved everything, she loved life."
Nishelle died on Thursday, September 29, reports Daily Mail. The other three women flew down to Ohio on Friday, September 30, however, the remains of the victim still lie in Florida.
On Sunday, October 2, a balloon release occurred in honor of Nishelle at her home in Dayton, Ohio. Her daughter wrote on Facebook, "Hey everyone we are having a Balloon release tomorrow for my mom between 5:30 -6 tomorrow at our house.Blue and white balloon."
Hurricane Ian's Death Toll Climbs to 87
Hurricane Ian's death toll has climbed to 87 as of Sunday as federal emergency management officials launched their largest ever search-and-rescue effort. The toll is expected to climb further as additional deaths are investigated for possible ties to last week's storm.
The fatalities so far have included 83 in Florida, where Ian struck as a Category 4 hurricane Wednesday, and four in North Carolina, where the storm ended up after striking the coast of South Carolina Friday.
