The images of destruction and peril during Hurricane Irma have been hard to avoid, and the challenges are just beginning for those who evacuated or sheltered in place.
But there were also scenes of heroism and levity, many of which were shared widely on social media. These were some of the moments that offered people at least a small lift in difficult times.
Police rescues
The North Miami Beach Police Department said on Twitter that officers had saved a mother and a 4-month-old child from a flooded home.
NMBPD utilized its armored personnel carrier to rescue a mother and her four month old child from her flooded home. #IamNMB #HurricaneIrma
The Martin County sheriff posted videos of a boat fighting fierce waters to save a couple in a sailboat. They all made it back to land safely.
The Lakeland Police Department said it rescued two adults and two children, ages 6 months old and 10 months old, from a car that was stranded in a ditch in about four feet of water.
“Even though it was 12:30 a.m. and the full strength of Hurricane Irma was about to hit Lakeland; our guys didn’t hesitate,” the department wrote in a Facebook post.
One woman in Little Haiti in Miami went into labor, but paramedics were unable to reach her. So a dispatcher talked her through delivering the baby over the phone; both the mother and the girl were later taken to the hospital, according to The Miami Herald.
Saving animals
In many cases, humans teamed up to help animals, including a veterinarian who checked in on the frightened pets of a shelter in Indian River County.
Because of a reverse surge, some sea animals found themselves stranded on a suddenly exposed beach. Kerry Sanders, an NBC reporter, was among those who lifted two beached dolphins back into the sea on Marco Island.
Marcelo Clavijo wrote on Facebook that he and others had saved two manatees that had washed ashore by rolling them onto a tarp and dragging them 100 yards to the water.
Moments of humanity
Ed Kondrat, a 59-year-old man from suburban Detroit, drove more than 1,200 miles to pick up his aunt in Arcadia, Fla., just north of Fort Myers, according to The Wall Street Journal. At first she refused to leave, but eventually relented.
“The things you do for family,” he said.
Kristen Bell, an actress who voiced Anna in Disney’s animated hit “Frozen,” sang to about 200 people sheltering at Meadow Woods Middle School in Orlando, according to Entertainment Tonight.
“I haven’t sang this in almost two years, so get ready,” she said.
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