Obituaries
Man Who Drowned In Bucks Co. Floodwaters Hailed As Hero: Report
Donald Bauer helped his wife escape their SUV after it floated into a home last week as Ida hit the area, their son told the AP.
BUCKS COUNTY, PA — A 65-year-old man who drowned last week in Upper Bucks County as the remnants of Ida hit the region is being hailed as a hero by his son.
Donald Bauer was driving home to Perkiomenville with his wife from their daughter’s volleyball game at DeSales University when their SUV stalled in floodwaters near the Unami Creek in Milford Township, their son Darby Bauer told the Associated Press.
The SUV then floated into a house and broke the back window, according to their son, who was on the phone with them at the time, the Associated Press reports.
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Donald Bauer helped his wife through the broken window, and she held onto a tree for about an hour until she was rescued, the report states. The SUV floated away during that time due to rising water.
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"Without his help, I don't think she would've gotten out of the car," Darby Bauer told the Associated Press. “He was selfless down to his last act.”
Katherine Bauer, 54, was taken to St. Luke’s Upper Bucks Campus in Quakertown after escaping the flooded SUV, police said.
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Firefighters and police reached the area around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday but were forced to delay their rescue due to severe conditions, according to police.
Rescue crews found Bauer's body inside his SUV after reaching it around 6 a.m. Thursday, police said.
Donald Bauer, a retired bus driver, was one of five people in Pennsylvania who died amid last week’s torrential rain, historic flooding and tornadoes caused by the remnants of Ida. Two others drowned in the flooding, while another was killed when a tree fell into a home.
One person was also killed in Chester County amid the storms, according to commissioners.
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