Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Former Western New Yorkers like Ray Collins, who now live in Florida, rode out Hurricane Idalia, drawing comparisons to the wicked weather they lived through during their time in the Buffalo area.
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Collins and former Buffalonian Martha Meegan both tell WBEN the storm struck to the North of their current homes.
Collins, a former Channel 4 anchor, currently lives in Sarasota.
"The hurricane was chugging up to the Gulf of Mexico, luckily far enough off shore and never really taking aim at the Bay Area or Sarasota, just south of that, more or less heading toward the Panhandle in the Big Bend area," said Collins.
He notes the area did not get off scot free, as there were 10,000 power outages and a prominent business district was flooded.
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Collins says there were no evacuation orders where he lived, but others living in the area marked Zone A were urged to evacuate.
"The government might say Zone A has evacuations. It's still up to them if they want to risk it or not," Collins explained.
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Collins has covered both hurricanes and blizzards during his time as a journalist. So, which does he prefer?
"I never liked being cold, so I think hurricanes would be the lesser of two evils for me," Collins admitted. "I've lost power in Buffalo many times, and I've lost power down here. There's no winners really, unless you've got a generator, because I was out of power for a week or so before due to a hurricane. It can get pretty toasty down here."
Martha Meegan lives in Gulfport, Florida, a suburb of St. Petersburg. She says she can see the Gulf of Mexico from her ninth floor condominium.
"We had pretty good high winds, and the big concern for us is storm surge," said Meegan.
She says the waves were crashing over a brick wall and up the grass toward first floor condo owners. She notes there was no flooding in the lobby or first floor, and the parking lot was draining well.
Meegan says her area was marked for evacuation, but leaving was her own decision.
"They highly recommend you get away before the storm comes in," Meegan said. "It can be as short as 10 miles, just more inland where you were not in the flood zone, as it were, or you can stay and pray that you don't have any kind of a medical emergency or there's not a problem with your building. Because you're not going to get any first responders to come once the hurricane is in full bore."
Meegan adds she and her husband weighed the decision pretty heavily.
"My husband is a retired Buffalo Police officer, and if he felt that we were really in danger based on all the information that we're being given by our local and county government here, then we would go. But we felt really confident in how we're positioned," Meegan said.
When it comes to a preference between a blizzard or a hurricane, Meegan says it's even, saying preparations are about the same.
"You need to make sure you've got enough supplies, food supplies, and milk and bread, eggs, whatever, and that you've got your generator and you're prepared for a storm if you have to hunker down and wait it out," Meegan said.
Meegan is a former Channel 4 assignment editor.