( NewsNation ) – The U.S. Coast Guard saved a boater and his dog from dangerous waters near Florida’s Sanibel Island as Hurricane Helene approached Thursday.
The storm, which made landfall as a Category 4 but weakened to a tropical storm by Friday morning, had threatened the Gulf Coast with storm surges that forecasters warned were potentially “unsurvivable.”
PHOTOS: Aftermath of Helene in Florida
Video of the rescue, which occurred about 25 miles off Sanibel Island on Florida’s Gulf Coast, shows an aviation survival technician (AST) with the Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater being lowered from a helicopter into the sailboat. The AST2 (second class) then meets up with the man, clinging to both the boat and his dog.
According to the Coast Guard, the man’s 36-foot sailboat “became disabled & started taking on water” amid the storm.