On October 5, six-year-old Tahjir Burrowes left his Florida home unattended while only wearing a diaper and a T-shirt and proceeded directly into a hurricane-flooded canal.
According to his mother, he had the most severe form of autism and was drawn to the water. The nonverbal child had enough time to flee unnoticed because the storm destroyed the fence enclosing their farm.
As soon as Tahjon, his older brother, 17, emerged from the bathroom and could not locate his younger sibling, he realized something was wrong.
He slammed the door of his mother. Mama, mama, mama! He yelled, “Tahjir got out of the house!” as he flew out the door.
Lachera Burrowes, their mother, sprang into her car and sped off to the canal next to their Lehigh residence.
When she arrived, the murky waters were still and motionless.
She made a police call and conducted a thorough street search. A detective showed up at her front door a few hours later. Authorities discovered her two sons; they had perished in the canal.
Burrowes knew in her heart that Tahjon must have dove in after his little brother. Despite their different ages, the two were the greatest of friends, and Tahjon knew exactly what to do to make his brother content.
“don’t know if one could be without the other. He could not stand there and not jump in,” she added, adding that if she had arrived first, she would have followed suit.
According to a Lee County Sheriff’s Office official, the two brothers’ deaths were confirmed, and no foul play was thought to be involved.
Burrowes believed she took all necessary precautions to protect her family. The single mother paid for a motel in Port St. Lucie while living paycheck to paycheck so she could evacuate with her three sons and her mother.
Tahjir was sensitive to storms and had experienced constipation for days after Hurricane Irma in 2017 left their home in the dark, so Burrowes, an addiction counsellor, wanted to avoid it.
According to NBC News’ assessment based on testimonies from local and state authorities, Hurricane Ian is responsible for more than 130 fatalities. That makes it the deadliest hurricane to hit Florida since 1935.
