Hurricane Helene Casualty: School Teacher Set to Retire Dies, Chilling Last Moments Revealed

Donna Fagersten was just a few days shy of retiring when the second-grade teacher lost her life after her hometown of Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, was hit by Hurricane Helene. She was 66 and worked at Ponce De Leon Elementary School in Pinellas County — the barrier island which reports say was one of the areas hit the hardest by the storm.

Fagersten’s close friends, Mike Moran and Heather Anne Boles, who revealed that the deceased educator had taught for 35 years, provided more context regarding how she died.

The late educator, who had a deep love for teaching children, her two sons, and her cat, lived across the street from Boles’ mom on the water.

Coming up with a safety plan as quickly as they could, Boles, who revealed how her family ended up losing all their possessions due to flooding, and Moran decided to evacuate their home immediately.

“The water came up so fast. It maybe had 10 minutes, if that,” she explained of how fast floodwaters continued to rise on Thursday evening, September 26.

Deciding to ride the storm out with Fagersten at Boles’ mother’s house, Boles, Moran, and their dearly missed friend rushed to their destination, going up to the third floor of the home. However, Fagersten then made a decision that ended up costing her her life.

“[When] it started to calm down, Donna wanted to go over and check on her cat,” revealed Boles. After she left and dangerous levels of storm surge plowed the coastline, a neighbor ran upstairs to alert Boles and Moran that he had seen someone floating in the parking garage. This person was Fagersten.

“[So] they pulled her up to the stairs, and Heather and Wayne started CPR,” recounted Moran of the life-changing moment. The group tried administering CPR for almost an hour before they realized Fagersten’s life could not be saved. At this point, the floodwaters were so high that fire rescue personnel had to come to them by boat.

Naturally, losing someone who was as close to them as Fagersten was has been devastating to reconcile. Her death is especially heartbreaking because Boles said Fagersten was such an integral part of their community.

“She was always laughing and joking, for sure. She was a regular at Crabby Bill’s and at JD’s. Everybody down there knew her and loved her,” divulged Boles.

Adding further insult to injury, Boles and Moran are now faced with having to rebuild their lives after being forced to do away with everything that they own because of the damage. Meanwhile, on a bittersweet note, Fagersten’s cat managed to survive, and now, Moran and Boles are working to find him a safe home.

According to Fox 13, nine people in Pinellas County died as a result of Hurricane Helene, three of whom lived in Indian Rocks Beach. After reports about the deaths circulated to the public, a person named Molly Bethel shared a post on Facebook with a screenshot of the names of the nine individuals who lost their lives.

Referencing Fagersten, Bethel penned, “NEW HEIGHTS friend’s. Does anybody know if this was our [5th-grade] teacher Donna Fagersten?”

People who saw the post took to the comment section to express their sorrow. “Omg!! That is so sad! The kids will be [heartbroken] 😭,” wrote a Facebooker.

Another who directly answered Bethel’s question said, “That is where she lived. Yes, it’s her. Heartbreaking. 💔.” “[She] was Teagan’s [3rd-grade] teacher and we are both pretty stunned by the news. Her sense of humor!! Incredibly sad,” added someone else.

Taking to Facebook to pen a tearjerking post about the loss of Fagersten, another friend and colleague expressed their devastation.

“I worked with Donna for over 13 years and she has touched the lives of so many students. I am so saddened by this and will miss her […] Prayers to Donna Fagersten’s family. She will be missed by many. RIP Donna 💔,” captioned Mary Gleason Lyons.

While Florida’s Pinellas County has been left extremely devastated by the hurricane, other states have been severely affected as well. From Georgia to Tennessee, communities have been struggling with resources in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

Thus far, there has been a total of at least 111 confirmed deaths. Approximately 42 of those deaths took place in North Carolina, 29 deaths came from South Carolina, 25 in Georgia, 11 in Florida, and 2 in both Tennessee and Virginia.

Based on data from PowerOutage.us, The Washington Post also reports that approximately 1.8 million civilians do not have power in these states. According to North Carolina’s Black Mountain town manager Josh Harrold, everyone is waiting for supplies with water being the main concern.

While government officials like FEMA have been doing all they can, sending resources to the severely affected areas and providing assistance, relief, rescue, and search efforts have proved to be challenging.

This is so because of physical hurdles like impassible roads blocked by objects like trees, especially in the rural areas of states such as North Carolina.

“There’s very little contact outside, and a lot of people in the small towns feel forgotten. It’s not that they have been — it’s that they are inaccessible. People here were so cut off, they had no way of even knowing how cut off they were,” explained Alison Greene who spoke on the difficulty of trying to reach her parents’ home in Yancey County.

We extend our most heartfelt condolences to Fagersten’s family and all the other lives that were lost as a result of Hurricane Helene‘s destruction. We also pray for healing and recovery for the devastated communities still grappling to rebuild and recover what they have lost.