1:14
- ABC News
- October 3, 2022
What it was like covering Hurricane Ian in Florida
In the devastation, locals saw surprising rescues; others worried for relatives.
1:14
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/8394power-trip-02-ht-iwb-221001_1664653375744_hpEmbed_3x4_384.jpg\")
I spoke to the daughter of Pam Stomczewski, 71, who lives in the same mobile home park as Dunnigan. Stomczewski's daughter, Jayme Rybka, lives in Chicago and was worried sick about her.
Stomczewski had placed her two small dogs on a couch cushion that served as a raft.
Pam Stomczewski, 71, who also lives at the RV Park, is up to her chest in water. Her two small dogs are on a floating couch, her daughter Jayme told me.
— Miles G. Cohen (@MilesGCohen) September 28, 2022
Again this is the Indian Creek RV Park in Fort Myers Beach — there are reportedly others also hanging on here. @FLSERT pic.twitter.com/4pHK5nPpvs
Into the night, relatives shared with me the last words they had exchanged with their friends and family in Ian's path.
\"I love you,\" Paula Sheldon's daughter, Michele Murphy, texted her. Murphy lives in Pine Island, which had also been hit hard by the hurricane. She had stayed put because she could not leave her many animals behind.
Sheldon told me her daughter's message was wrenching: \"'I love you' sounded like 'goodbye.'\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/ian-reunite-2-gty-ps-220930_1664568672323_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
By Thursday morning, some relatives had reached their loved ones.
I woke up to a text from Stomczewski's daughter, who said it was a miracle -- she had been rescued. Nick Smith, a family friend, had driven his Jeep through dangerous waters and pulled her out of her home. Her dogs were also safe.
\"We just started screaming her name and she started screaming back,\" Smith told me by phone. \"We got in there and saved her man.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/8395power-trip-02-ht-iwb-221001_1664653375745_hpEmbed_7x4_384.jpg\")
Others had not been as lucky.
Sheldon said she still did not have any word from her daughter in Pine Island. She considered driving 80 miles south from Ocala to see if she could find her.
By Monday, Florida officials would confirm that more than 90 people had died in the state though search-and-rescue work was ongoing.
As emergency responders continued working in Fort Myers' Lee County, one of the hardest hit areas of Florida, I made a call to the county's election supervisor, Tommy Doyle. I asked him if he thought they could begin sending out mail-in ballots by their Oct. 6 deadline.
Doyle, who took my call from his son's flooded Fort Myers home, said they were going to try.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/8396power-trip-02-ht-iwb-221001_1664653375746_hpEmbed_8x11_384.jpg\")
\"Unfortunately, we got to think about voting. A lot of people aren't thinking about that right now,\" Doyle said. \"They're dealing with personal issues, trying to salvage their life.\"
\"I have to put my gears in high gear and get it done,\" he added. \"And that's what we'll do.\"
Paula Sheldon finally heard from her daughter. Sheldon was overjoyed that Murphy and her five dogs had made it through the storm. Murphy is still without power and everyday provisions, Sheldon told me, but at least she knows Murphy is OK.
On Saturday night, Dunnigan, who had been stuck in his mobile home in Fort Myers, wrote on Facebook that he was OK, too. \"I've lost everything,\" he wrote, before adding, \"I'm alive and very thankful because it was close to not being that way.\"
\"Power Trip\" releases new episodes on Sundays on Hulu.
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