Hurricane Helene claims life of Irishman in Florida drowned in cottage after refusing to leave home amid evacuation order

The son of an Irishman who was killed during Hurricane Helene in Florida last week has paid tribute to him.

Aidan Bowles, 71, originally from Glanmire in Co Cork , emigrated to the United States at the age of 20. He had worked as a New York attorney during his career and was set to travel home to Ireland to visit family and friends just weeks after his untimely death.

Bowles’ son Sam who lives in Kentucky spoke to RTE saying that he talked to his father the night before he died.

"I called him around 10pm last Thursday night and he told me there was nothing to worry about, that everything was fine and the storm had already passed him," said Sam. "But the storm surge is what caused the issue.

"The next morning around 9.30 am, I got a call from the police to say my father was deceased in his home and there was about eight to ten feet of water surrounding it.”

Authorities believe Bowles died by drowning. He decided to stay in his cottage in Indian Rocks Beach in Pinellas County, despite a mandatory evacuation order urging residents to flee. His body was discovered by his neighbor John Comer a day after the monster storm which claimed the lives of nine people in Pinellas County. In total, Hurricane Helene has killed nearly 100 people.

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Bowles’ son told RTE that his father was a ‘superhero’ adding, “He adopted me when I was a one-year-old. He has done so much for me and for everyone he has come into contact with.”

Bowles’ wife and Sam’s mother passed away last year. The family had vacationed at Indian Rocks Beach since the 1980s, but Bowles had relocated there permanently about 15 years ago.

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