Trapped Florida Couple Uses Trees to Spell 'HELP'

An innovative Floridian, his sharp-eyed niece, and some high-tech images combined for one of the more unusual rescues after Hurricane Michael. When Ernest Gee and his wife were trapped on their property in Youngstown, Gee used downed trees to spell out the word HELP in the yard, reports ABC News. On Saturday, three days after the storm hit, niece Amber Gee was poring over satellite map images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to check on relatives' homes when she spotted the SOS.

Gee, who credits her uncle with "thinking outside the box," alerted the Dade County Sheriff's Department, who cut through downed trees and made it to the home around 2am Sunday to rescue Ernest Gee, his wife, and a friend staying with them, reports USA Today. "This is an incredible story of how people are working together," Bay County Emergency Services posted on its Facebook page. (Up to 50 people were missing from hard-hit Mexico Beach, Florida.)