Inside look at Hurricane Ian

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - It’s one thing to see videos of houses floating away and power lines coming down. It’s much different to actually be on the ground when a hurricane makes landfall.

Read: Hurricane Ian makes landfall in southwest Florida as Category 4 storm

Former WILX employees Holly and Jace Harper now work at a TV station in Sarasota, Florida.

“We are very close to the ocean at the TV station so flooding is a very big concern for us. We actually have these boards on all of the windows here at the TV station that were built-in cause they know that this is kind of a thing they experience in this area,” said Holly.

Holly and Jace have voluntarily evacuated their home and are camping out at the TV station. According to the updates they’ve been getting, no one should be on the roads.

“Actually emergency personnel, as of about 20 minutes ago said they are no longer responding to calls because we have sustained winds of 45 plus miles per hour and they cannot be out on the road. So all they have to do when people call 911 is talk them through their situation,” said Holly.

The Harper’s said staying at the TV station until the severe weather alert is lifted helps them keep their viewers informed around the clock.

“Just be mindful of the people that are going through this. I would definitely ask people to keep everybody in their thoughts. There’s going to be a lot of people that are going to lose everything and that’s just the reality of the situation,” said Jace.

The meteorologist they work with is predicting a highly destructive storm that will be talked about for years.

“The destruction that comes from this, especially the folks on the coast. So, they just said it’s going to be catastrophic, it’s going to be something we clean-up for weeks and weeks and weeks,” said Holly.

The Michigan chapter of the Red Cross expects to send people to Florida with recovery efforts once the storm moves on.

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