
Palm Bay families lose everything in flash floods, pleading for FEMA assistance: 'Just demolished'
By Katherine Langford
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Two words. Written by hand. Pressed against a window.“HELP US.”It was a simple message carrying an urgent plea from a child hiding inside a Kissimmee home during a domestic disturbance.And according to the Kissimmee Police Department, it was a message officers spotted from the sky.Police shared a photograph of the handwritten sign on social media Tuesday, Nov. 10, revealing a dramatic moment from an October incident that brought officers, a police drone, a SWAT team and crisis negotiators to a residential community in Osceola County.The encounter ended with children escaping safely and a man surrendering to police.But the photograph is now raising questions about what happened inside the home before the children were able to get out.A family’s fears lead police to a Kissimmee homeThe incident unfolded Oct. 26, when Kissimmee police officers responded to a domestic disturbance involving Andre Janard Smithson.According to the department, family members contacted authorities because child