BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) Lots of Western New Yorkers with property in southwest Florida are waiting to hear, if and how, their property survived the worst storm to hit the region in over a century.
Many were having difficulty making calls to Florida with power outages and
cell towers down throughout the state.
Governor Ron DeSantis announced 100 temporary cell towers were being deployed in the region Thursday.
Esther Gulyas, the President and CEO of EG Tax, owns a home and boat on
Marco Island, which was in the path of Hurricane Ian Wednesday.
Esther stayed in Tonawanda, while her brother rode out the storm at her Florida home.
"Everything was good until my brother saw a double wave come in.
And within 45 minutes, four feet of water came into my yard, submerging
my brother's cars in the driveway," Gulyas told WBEN Thursday morning.
The water was 9 inches from entering Gulyas' house, before it receded.
"My brother's good, and really, everything is good." Gulyas was relieved at the damage, especially compared to what many others suffered.
"They kept saying Tampa, Tampa, Tampa," Gulyas insisted. "I moved everything off of my patio and I was prepared for the worst, but holy moly, it was just unbelievable. Across the canal from my house, my brother watched a jet ski just float away."
Gulyas keeps a power boat at her Marco Island home. "My neighbor latched my boat to a boat lift. Then latched the lift to a mooring. And my boat is high and dry."
As for watching the storm from a distance, Gulyas said, "I didn't want to be there. I didn't want to watch. If the best happened, you say thank God. Today I'm a very thankful lady."
