After Hurricane Ian ripped through parts of Florida, many residents have been left unhoused or displaced. John Brown, former FOX 2 news anchor, is now at FOX 35 in Orlando. He talked with KMOX about what he's seen over the past couple of days.
"It's really unbelievable. I mean, we're not even close to what they're seeing in Fort Myers and Sanibel," Brown said. "But you know, I've lived through and covered several hurricanes. But this one, like everybody keeps saying, was just different."
Ian is the fourth-largest hurricane to ever hit Florida. Brown said it's lasted close to 48 hours, which is double what they usually last in a given area.
"It's that nonstop whistling, the sideways wind, not knowing what's next. I mean, it just keeps everybody on edge for so long," he said.
Brown said that in Orlando, people who had travel plans for Disney and other theme parks have been impacted, though Disney was able to open back up again Friday. However, he said, there are parts of Orlando that have been devastated.
"You have a million people who had need a place to live. The scale down there is just astronomical. Here in Orlando, it's still weird, because part of my neighborhood is underwater," he said. "People are out in their boats and canoes, because we have a lake that feeds into our neighborhood. And yet my half of the neighborhood, we all have power. You know, we're just raking up a few leaves. That's how bizarre this is."
Brown added that Governor Ron DeSantis has been generally pretty proactive about helping people prepare, and people have been showing kindness and care to others in their communities. Brown said the way people helped each other out lifted his heart.
"If somebody needed help, and they were new to Florida, they didn't know what to do, you had neighbors coming out, helping them board up," he said. "I mean, it really kind of lifts your spirits and then to see the day after the storm, people black, white, Hispanic, whatever it might be, everybody's out when they're not supposed to be helping people recover. So there is still a lot of good in this country."
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