"I'm scared": Florida student recounts swim home from school bus

WPBF 25 News's interview follows flood footage with a father's questions about how students were sent home.

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WPBF 25 News Story of November 8, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 94,788 views a day, 38 times a normal first day on this channel (2,479).

EXCLUSIVE: 'I'm scared': Student who swims home from school bus is speaking out

Things we can learn from the video

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1:03The student says he was frightened and had to swim after reaching a ditch.
1:23The witness who filmed the scene says she was ready to enter the water if needed.
1:46Perik reconstructs the storm, flooding and school district's decision to send students home by bus.
2:22The student recalls floodwater reaching every step of the school bus.
2:30The district superintendent apologized; the student's father says an apology does not sufficiently address the danger.
3:01Perik says the superintendent's office declined requests for an interview or phone call.

The water grew deeper when the student reached a ditch. What began as a walk home from a school bus became a swim through floodwater in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

"I'm scared. Like, I just wanted to get out of the water," he tells WPBF 25 News in an interview that puts a student's account behind the widely shared footage.

The report drew roughly 95,000 views in its first day, compared with about 2,500 for the station's usual regular upload. But its central detail is not the reach of the footage: it is how quickly the student's route home became dangerous.

He recalls water reaching every step of the bus and rising to his chest when he hit the ditch. A witness who filmed the scene says she was ready to drop her phone and enter the water if he went under.

His father describes the shock of recognizing his son in the footage. He questions what might have been hidden beneath water too dark to see through.

Reporter John Perik reconstructs the sudden storm and flooding, and the district's decision to send students home by bus. The superintendent apologized to parents, but the student's father says an apology is insufficient given the potential hazards. Perik closes by saying the superintendent's office declined requests for an interview or phone call.

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