Donna Fagersten was safely sheltered on the top floor of her friends’ home as Hurricane Helene battered northern Florida, claiming more than 100 victims along its catastrophic path through the Southeastern U.S.
“When [the storm] started to calm down,” the 66-year-old teacher, only days from retiring, made the fatal decision to head home and rescue her cat.
When Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida around 11 p.m. on September 26, 2024, the Category 4 storm caused major flash flooding, leaving many residents scrambling for their lives.
One of the worst hit areas was Pinellas County, in the Tampa Bay area, where so far at least 11 people are confirmed dead.
One of those victims is 66-year-old Donna Fagersten, a second-grade teacher at Ponce De Leon Elementary school in Pinellas County.
According to her best friend Heather Anne Boles, Fagersten, who lived in Indian Rocks Beach, was retiring the week of September 30 after 35 years of teaching.
Storm surge
As Helene hit on Thursday night, Fagerston rode out the storm with Boles and her partner Mike Moran.
“The water came up so fast,” Moran told Fox News. “It maybe had 10 minutes, if that.”
“We all went to my mom’s house and got on the third floor when the storm surge rushed in,” Boles said of seeking refuge with her mother, who lives across the street from the beach where Fagerston lived.
She adds that “when it started to calm down,” she begged her best friend to stay in their shelter but “Donna wanted to go over and check on her cat.”
But the storm hadn’t calmed down and another surge, along with high tropical winds, continued to hammer the coastline.
And then a neighbor came into the home where Boles and Moran were bunkering.
“[He] said he saw somebody floating in the parking garage, so they pulled [Fagersten] up to the stairs, and Heather [Boles] and [a friend] started CPR,” Moran said.
Moran explains that floodwaters were so high that fire rescue had to come by boat.
After almost an hour of trying to revive her, “there was nothing we could do,” Moran said. “Losing one of your best friends is just devastating.”
According to Eye on Tampa Bay, “Detectives say Donna Fagersten was located in several inches of water inside her residence. It was apparent that water entered the residence and Fagersten appeared to have drowned.”
‘Beautiful soul’
Meanwhile, family and friends are remembering the woman, who’s described as a “beautiful person.”
In a Facebook post, Mary Gleason Lyons shares a heartbreaking message, announcing the death of the woman who was a special member of the community.
“People may have lost a lot this hurricane but we lost Donna Fagersten who was a beautiful person, a friend, and a teacher. I worked with Donna for over 13 years, and she has touched the lives of so many students,” Lyons writes of her dear friend and co-worker. “I am so saddened by this and will miss her. She was dedicated to her students and had such a big heart.”
Online users jumped into the comments section, offering some insight into how much Fagersten was appreciated in the community.
“We lost 3 trees w/ Irma, but we still had our house, we still had all our belongings & we still had Donna.”
— Kylie Jones Fox 13 (@kyliejonesontv) September 30, 2024
Donna Fagersten is one of 9 in Pinellas Co. who died during #HurricaneHelene. Hear from her best friend who tried to save her life, on @FOX13News at 6.
📸: Meliza Zamora pic.twitter.com/ap2uYpcLYG
“I remember her fondly!! So saddened to hear of her passing,” writes one Facebook user.
A second shares, “She was one kind-hearted woman and if you knew her you would never forget her. Such a beautiful soul to lose from so many people. God Rest her Soul.”
Another adds, “This is heartbreaking, things like this make you realize how you can’t take any one or any day for granted.”
Destruction
Boles and Moran have spent the past several days cleaning up after fatal floods stole almost everything, including furniture, personal possessions and clothing.
But losing a best friend to what Boles says, “is obviously the worst we have ever, ever seen,” is the most painful.
“We lost three trees with [Hurricane] Irma, but we still had our house, we still had all our belongings, and we still had Donna,” said Boles, a resident of Indian Rocks Beach for 25 years.
She adds, “And I know there are others out here that lost their lives as well. Just pray for everybody right now.”
Boles said Fagersten’s cat did survive, and her friends are working to find him a safe home.
According to USA Today, Hurricane Helene’s devastating 800-mile path northward caused historic flooding, left more than 2 million homes without power and claimed the lives of more than 100 people.
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