Police: Man dies after shark attack off Cape Cod
WELLFLEET, MASS. » A man was bitten by a shark Saturday in the water off a Cape Cod beach and died By Allen later G. at a Breed hospital, becoming the The state’s Associated first Press shark attack fatality in more than 80 years. NEW BERN, N.C. » The Marines, the
The 26-year-old man from Revere Coast Guard, civilian crews and succumbed to his injuries volunteers used helicopters, boats following the attack off Newcomb and heavy-duty vehicles Saturday Hollow Beach in Wellfleet to rescue scores of people trapped at around noon, Wellfleet Police by Florence’s shoreline onslaught, Lt. Michael Hurley said. even as North Carolina braced for
Joe Booth, a local fisherman what could be the next stage of and surfer, said he was on shore the disaster: widespread, catastrophic when he saw the man and his flooding inland. friend boogie boarding when the
The death toll from the hurricane-turned-tropical attack happened. storm
He said he saw the man aggressively climbed to eight. kick something behind him
A day after blowing ashore and a flicker of a tail from the water. with 90 mph winds, Florence He realized what was happening practically parked itself over land when the friend came ashore all day long and poured on the dragging his injured friend. rain. With rivers rising toward record
“I was that guy on the beach levels, thousands of people screaming, ‘Shark, shark!” Booth were ordered evacuated for fear said. “It was like right out of that the next few days could bring the movie Jaws. This has turned into most destructive round of flooding Amity Island real quick out here.” in North Carolina history. Booth said others on the beach More than 2 feet of rain had attempted to make a tourniquet fallen in places, and the drenching while others frantically called 911. went on and on, with forecasters
Hayley Williamson, a Cape Cod saying there could be an resident and former lifeguard additional 1½ feet by the end of who was on the beach at the time, the weekend. was in disbelief after the man was
“I cannot overstate it: Floodwaters rushed into an ambulance. are rising, and if you aren’t
“We’ve been surfing all morning watching for them you are risking right here and they were just your life,” Gov. Roy Cooper said. further down,” she said of the
As of 5 p.m., Florence was centered two boogie boarders. “Right spot, about 60 miles west of Myrtle wrong time, I guess.” Beach, South Carolina, inching
Life-saving measures were attempted west at 2 mph — not even on the beach before the as fast as a person walking. Its man was taken to Cape Cod Hospital winds were down to 45 mph. in Hyannis, where he was With half of the storm still out pronounced dead, State Police over the Atlantic Ocean, Florence spokesman David Procopio said. continued to collect warm ocean The beach has been closed to water and dump it on land. swimming. In its initial onslaught along The family of the victim was the coast, Florence buckled buildings, notified of the death but his name deluged entire communities was not released, Procopio said. and knocked out power to more
It was the first fatal shark attack than 900,000 homes and businesses. in Massachusetts since 1936, But the storm was shaping and the second shark attack this up as a two-part disaster, season. with the second, delayed stage
A 61-year-old New York man triggered by rainwater working was severely injured Aug. 15 after its way into rivers and streams. fighting off a shark off Truro,
The flash flooding could devastate about 4 miles north of Saturday’s communities and endanger attack. He’s currently recovering dams, roads and bridge. in a Boston hospital. Authorities ordered the immediate “Today is just keeping everyone evacuation of up to 7,500 out of water,” Hurley said. people living within a mile of a “There’ll be a determination later stretch of the Cape Fear River and about what the town wants to do the Little River, about 100 miles with the beaches going forward.” in from the coast. The evacuation
Beachgoers said the Wellfleet zone included part of the city of beach is popular with surfers, Fayetteville, population 200,000. and with sunny skies and warm
Officials in nearby Harnett temperatures Saturday it was County urged residents of about busy, even though the summer 1,100 homes to clear out because season was over and lifeguards the Lower Little River was rising were no longer on watch. toward record levels. There have been frequent shark One potential road out was sightings this summer along the blocked as flooding forced the outer Cape, often leading to shutdown of a 16-mile stretch of beach closings. The National Park the 95 Freeway, the main highway Service, which manages many of along the Eastern Seaboard. the picturesque beaches where
In New Bern , along the coast, white sharks tend to congregate, homes were completely surrounded said it closed beaches for at least by water, and rescuers an hour about 25 times this year used inflatable boats to reach — more than double the annual people. More than 360 people average. had been carried to safety since
A Cape Cod politician said officials Thursday night. who did not take more aggressive
Kevin Knox and his family action against sharks were rescued from their flooded bore some responsibility for the brick home with the help of fatal attack. Barnstable County Army Sgt. Johan Mackie, part of Commissioner Ron Beaty said he a team that was using a phone had warned something like this app to locate people in distress. could happen and urged measures Mackie rode in a boat through a to reduce the number of flooded neighborhood, navigating white sharks. through trees and past a fencepost
“It is my personal belief that to get to the Knox house. the responsibility for this horrible
“Amazing. They did awesome,” shark attack rests squarely said Knox, who was stranded upon the shoulders of the aforementioned with seven others, including a officials for their utter boy who was carried out in a life lack of attention and inaction regarding vest. “If not we’d be stuck upstairs the growing shark problem for the next ... how long? I have on Cape Cod of the last few no idea.” years,” he said. Across the Trent River from The state’s last shark attack fatality New Bern, Jerry and Jan Andrews was on July 25, 1936, when returned home after evacuating 16-year-old Joseph Troy Jr. was to find carp flopping in bitten in waters off Mattapoisett. their backyard near the porch
Troy, of Boston’s Dorchester stairs. neighborhood, was visiting an
Coast Guard helicopters were uncle and was swimming about taking off across the street. 50 feet offshore when the shark attacked.