“If it was snow, I'd be more comfortable. But it's rain and wind and we've never experienced anything like this before,” said Western New York native, Allison Revelas who is in the thick of it in Florida. She's one of seven nurses from Catholic Health who flew to Orlando Wednesday for a professional development conference.
When we caught up with Revelas via Facetime she was in a rented minivan in route to Tampa. “We're just glad to be getting out of it. We're hoping we miss it in Tampa.”
Revelas says flights out of Florida are scarce. She and her coworkers were just lucky to get a hotel room in Tampa. “It's one of the only ones. We have a suite. So, we're all going to be sharing a big room.”
Nicole Bennett isn't trying to make it back to Western New York. She’s originally from West Seneca but she's called Palm Coast home for the last two months now. Evacuation isn't mandatory. So, she's staying put. “I'm nervous. I'm not going to lie. A little concerning. But, our house is 10 years old and it's built to hurricane specifications.”
And then there's Western New Yorker’s like Connelly Morris. The 17 year old from Cuba, New York is attending college at the Savannah College of Art and Design the entire campus is being evacuated to Atlanta. “At first it was like exciting because we were like it's a hurricane. And then, it was like, wait, I don't want to sit on a bus for 9 hours. So, I'm not nervous about it. But, I'm not excited for the bus ride.”
Morris is hoping to be allowed back on campus by Sunday. Revelas wants to get home too. They were able to book a flight out of Tampa Friday night. She only hopes Mother Nature doesn't have other plans.
“We'll be excited to get back to Buffalo. We miss home.”
