‘Dancing With the Stars’ Season 30 Contestant Evacuates Home Due to Flooding

Former Dancing With the Stars contestant Martin Kove was forced to evacuate his Tennessee home after heavy rainfall caused floodwaters to surround the property.

Kove, best known for playing John Kreese in The Karate Kid franchise and Cobra Kai, shared the experience on Instagram, saying first responders arrived by boat to help him, his partner and his new puppy, Winston.

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“Well I had to evacuate my house in Nashville. They had to bring a boat up to my front door,” Kove wrote. “We made it out. My new dog Winston and my lady friend and House are fine.”

The actor also praised the emergency crews who responded to the flooding.

“In Kreese fashion, But god bless the fire department first responders they showed that flood no mercy! 💪🏻 Cobra Kai never dies! 👊🏻” he added.

Kove told FOX 17 News that he had recently returned home with Winston, a 12-week-old puppy, after picking him up from a breeder in Omaha. As heavy rain continued, Kove said he noticed the water around his property rapidly rising.

“I’m sitting in the back, watching a movie, and then all of a sudden I get up and I just look out the back and there’s a river, like a major river,” he said. “Like a Mississippi River.”

When Kove went toward the front of his home, he said the water was approximately 10 feet from the building.

“I had not experienced anything like this,” he said. “The entire house was surrounded.”

Kove called 911 and said he was aware other residents were also dealing with emergencies.

Eventually, emergency responders reached Kove’s property by boat. He estimated about 25 emergency vehicles gathered near the end of his driveway and repeatedly thanked the firefighters, police officers and other first responders involved.

“We don’t realize that these people put themselves on the line,” Kove said. “They put their lives on the lines to save the 12-week-old beast and, you know, myself and my lady.”

The rescue also inspired some humor connected to his famous role. Kove said responders referenced Kreese’s “no mercy” philosophy while helping him.

“The responders said that. They said, ‘There was no mercy here,’” he recalled. “But there was mercy here. Martin Kove received a lot of mercy from God.”

Although floodwater did not enter Kove’s home, he said the property sustained damage, including fencing and outdoor furniture that was swept away. A chair from an old barn was also left lodged in a tree.

Kove said he has lived at the property for about five years but had never witnessed flooding this severe.