MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. — Florida officials have revealed new details about the second reported casualty of Hurricane Idalia. The second reported death was a 60-year-old resident of Brevard County who disappeared while windsurfing on the morning Idalia made landfall.
The Miami Herald reports that Greggory Johnston was last seen around the area of the Banana River near Kelly Park, according to the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. Deputies started searching for Johnston on the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 30 when they found his car at the park.
They found his sailboard the following day and found his body on Friday.
According to Florida Today, Johnston appeared to have drowned. While Idalia's hardest hit areas were primarily on the Big Bend area of the Gulf Coast, Brevard County was under tropical storm warnings at the time of landfall with strong winds and rough surf reported along the county's beaches.
A Brevard County spokesperson said that the fact that Johnston drowned while the county was under a tropical storm warning is why his death has been recorded as storm-related.
According to TrickyFish, it is generally considered unsafe to surf or windsurf during a hurricane due mainly to the powerful winds which can create heavy currents during storm surges, reduce visibility, and generally be unpredictable, making it harder to safely maintain control while windsurfing or riding waves.
Officials also detailed the death of the first victim who died in Alachua County after his Toyota Tacoma pickup truck veered off the road and into a ditch where it crashed into a tree line.