Rescued Kitten 'A Bright Spot' During Hurricane Ian's Onslaught

TAMPA, FL — As Hurricane Ian was quickly bearing down on the Gulf Coast Thursday night, Tampa police Officer Rose Angelakopoulos and her partner, Reserve Officer Barry Moskowitz, were patrolling the deserted streets of North Tampa.

The downpour and strong winds limited their visibility and made driving conditions precarious. Nevertheless, as they headed north on Florida Avenue toward Fletcher Avenue, Angelakopoulos spotted what looked like a plastic bag blowing in the wind.

"Winds were in the 30 mph range and it was raining hard and difficult to see," she said.

She instinctively looked back after they passed the object, and realized it wasn't a plastic bag that she saw.

"I told my partner, 'I think that is a cat,'" she said.

Moskowitz had no clue what Angelakopoulos was talking about, but she insisted they turn around.

"I told him there was a cat in the middle of the road, and we needed to get her," Angelakopouos said.

When they circled back, they discovered a tiny gray and tan kitten sitting in the middle of the road in weather conditions no human or animal had any business being out in.

Though Tampa escaped the brunt of the Category 4 hurricane's devastation, Angelakopoulos was sure the tiny, helpless kitten would have perished in the 75 mph winds that blew through Tampa that night, accompanied by a storm surge so powerful that, at one point, it sucked the water right out of Tampa Bay.

"She would have not survived out there," Angelakopoulos said.

She said the chance of spotting the tiny kitten in the midst of those weather conditions was a miracle in itself.

The officers quickly scooped up the frightened animal and Angelakopoulos wrapped the shivering kitten in towels, holding it to her chest to keep it warm.

"It was cold and absolutely terrified," Angelakopoulos said.

The kitten was covered in ants. Angelakopoulos picked the ants out of its fur and then tried to sit the kitten on the floorboard, but it "latched on to me for dear life." So, Angelakopoulos held the kitten as Moskowitz drove to the Veterinary Emergency Group, 238 E Bearss Ave., Tampa, a 24/7 veterinary clinic, one of the few that was still open during the hurricane.

Although it took about an hour for the kitten to warm up, the veterinary staff gave it a thorough checkup and pronounced it healthy, if not traumatized.

Meanwhile, Moskowitz contacted a family he knew that was looking to adopt a kitten. Not only did the family agree to adopt the kitten, the entire family, including two boys, jumped into their car and drove straight to the Veterinary Emergency Group.

In less than two hours after being discovered what's being called one of the most devastating hurricanes to strike Florida, the abandoned kitten had a new home.

In light of the circumstances in which the kitten was found, Moskowitz and Angelakopoulos thought it was only appropriate that it be named "Ian," but the veterinary staff quashed that idea, informing the police officers that they'd found a female kitten.

In the end, the officers and her new adoptive family agreed on the name, "Stormie," because, they said, she proved to be "a bright spot in the storm."