FLORIDA, USA — There are many Western New Yorkers who have moved to Florida, or have property there. They are now dealing with what was a Category 4 hurricane.
Hurricane Ian has since been downgraded to Category 1.
Channel 2 spoke to a couple of Western New Yorkers who now live in Orlando.
Batavia native Walter Millis says he and his neighbors are trapped in their neighborhood because the entrance is completely flooded. Thankfully, his home home has not been touched and he still even has power.
But he says he isn't relieved just yet, calling it a waiting game because they could lose power at any minute.
"That's the worst part is because you hope you've got enough supplies to get you through the next couple days because now you have to wait," Millis said.
"The ground has been so saturated for the last 36 hours. The water is not moving fast enough so you have to worry about the trees in the ground. Some of these oak trees are already starting to lean and when you have a 50 to 60-foot trees above your house, it leaves you a little panicked and worried."
There are more than 2.5 million people in Florida without power right now, including North Buffalo native Mary Ilarraza, who is also in Orlando.
Her family has been there for about a year and this is their first hurricane.
"There's a ton of flooding in our area. I haven't seen too many damage reports but in our neighborhood, I did see some reports of trees down and stuff like that," she said.
Danielle McCall is a Clarence native who lives just south of Tampa in Bradenton. She said despite all this damage you see across the town Wednesday, thankfully her home is only missing some shingles.
"First hurricane, yes, as an adult. I've come here as a kid and have been though tropical storms here, but never one this bad," McCall said.
She says that's because of how widespread it is.
2 On Your Side did reach out to Western New Yorkers living in Fort Myers and surrounding towns.
Many were either busy evacuating, have no power or the cell service is very spotty.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is sending the New York Army National Guard down to Florida to assist in the recovery efforts.