A Palm Bay father died Monday after his truck became trapped in rising floodwaters during a flash flood in Brevard County, Florida, leaving behind a wife and four children, including three with special needs.
Joshua Bennett, 34, had left home to buy coffee when he drove into floodwaters on San Filippo Drive, according to WESH 2 News. As water surrounded his truck, he called his wife, Stacy Petit Bennett, on FaceTime.
“He called me on FaceTime, and he was just crying, like, ‘I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to do,'” Stacy Petit Bennett said. “And he said he’s in the middle of a river, and his car is, like, submerged with water all around.”
Stacy Petit Bennett told him to break a window to escape before the call cut off. She called 911 and spent hours trying to get help to him, she said.
“Every life is important, and everyone deserves a chance to be rescued. To be saved. He was just 34 years old. His kids are young,” she said, describing her husband as an “amazing husband and dad.”
The couple’s children include twin daughters born prematurely. Stacy Petit Bennett said the kids have been asking when their father is coming home.
“He’s not here. I don’t have my support system. They don’t have their father,” she said.
Bennett was one of two people killed by flooding in Brevard County this week. The other victim, 78-year-old Archie Richards, was found dead inside his vehicle near Richards Lane and Hall Road, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, as reported by WESH 2 News.
Fox News Digital reported it had reached out to Brevard County officials for further information.
