UPDATE: Rowdy Gaines, Wife Judy, Are Safe After Hurricane Scare | SwimSwam

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

Madison Gaines, the daughter of three-time Olympic gold medalist and the voice of swimming in the United States Rowdy Gaines, has shared an update on her parents after Hurricane Helene left them marooned in their home in Port Charlotte on Thursday.

“From Rowdy and Judy: We are safe and have gone to a friends [sic] house in Port Charlotte. We are still without power and our cars were flooded but we got a rental car and were able to drive out this afternoon. We thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Our prayers are for the people in the direct path of this mammoth storm.”

Port Charlotte is located about midway between Fort Myers and Tampa on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

While the coastal town did not take a direct hit from the storm, it was inundated with the historic storm surge that has put most of the town underwater.

Officials in Charlotte County put out evacuation orders for barrier islands, low-lying areas, manufactured homes, and any homes not built to withstand high winds, but the Gaineses were not able to evacuate in time from their home in the woods.

Rowdy and his wife are attempting to conserve battery on their phones as they have been without power for over a day, but Madison is posting updates for them on Rowdy’s Instagram account. On Friday, she posted a video of the flooding saying that her parents’ house was on 3 foot stilts, but that flooding was keeping them from their cars even after the storm had passed.

The storm, currently making its way through the Midwest, has caused at least 52 deaths, billions of dollars of damage, and has left millions without power. Several college meets were cancelled over the weekend before and after the storm.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: UPDATE: Rowdy Gaines, Wife Judy, Are Safe After Hurricane Scare