ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A St. Petersburg man was driving southbound on I-275 in a Tesla at a "high rate of speed" when he lost control and was thrown into the Gulf of Mexico, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
FHP said the 25-year-old man left the roadway, entered the shoulder, hit a drainage pond and flipped into the mangroves.
The driver, who was not buckled up, was thrown into the water.
A passing boater picked him up out of the water and took him to the Maximo Park boat ramp. He was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.