Homeless Ga. woman wades in neck-high floodwater to safety

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Floodwaters several feet deep submerged a long stretch of President Street, which links downtown Savannah to the highway to Tybee Island.

Cassandra Coleman and her boyfriend were stopped in her car at the impasse Saturday morning when they saw a woman wading through floodwaters waters up to her neck.

“We thought she was going to fall. She kept staggering through,” Coleman said.

The shivering woman made it to the water’s edge. A bystander handed her a sheet, which she wrapped around her neck.

“I’m homeless,” said the woman, who identified herself only as Valerie. “I’ve got nine kids but I couldn’t evacuate with them.”

She said she weathered the storm under a tent near an overpass that crosses the low-lying road. But then floodwaters washed it away.

“It wiped out our tent, our tarp and washed away all our blankets and clothes,” she said.

She left with a bystander who offered to assist her in finding help.