Neighbors Rescue a Couple Trapped in Their Collapsing Home

The winds from Hurricane Michael had ripped apart the home of Paul and Stacy Christiansen. Nearby residents in Lynn Haven, Florida, braved the storm to try to rescue them.

When the storm arrived, Paul Christiansen heard a tree fall and then his ears popped. “It felt like something bad was coming, the roof was coming down, so I said, ‘Let’s see if we can get out of here.'”

He and his wife crawled into the garage and got into their pickup, thinking it would be safer. “Then the wall came down and almost crushed us,” he said.

Ron and Heather Dolan saw what was happening across the street. They and others rushed to help.

Stacy Christiansen was the first to be freed, followed by her husband and their dog, Ginger.

After reaching safety, Stacy Christiansen said that her husband needed his insulin.

Greg Charles Weaver ran into the crumbling house. “I found the fridge, got his medicine and got back out.”

In this neighborhood, just north of Panama City, Florida, friends and strangers alike became first responders.

Days later, Stacy Christiansen, with her husband, recalled what could have been. “I keep telling him that if he hadn’t been home, it would have been a different outcome.”