An elderly couple who fell in love during the devastating 2022 Hurricane Ian ignored calls to evacuate Thursday and said they would celebrate their hurricane anniversary by riding together on Helene too.
Michele Vikartofsky and Larry Leventhal met during the devastating Category 5 Ian that killed 161 people, because “they were both crazy people who stayed” in their homes on Sanibel Island, Florida.
And even though Florida officials urged residents to evacuate before Helene made landfall Thursday night, the couple stayed home this time, too.
When asked about NBC News Why they stayed, Michele had a one-word answer: “Yolo.”
Speaking over the 5G network on their phones, the couple was asked why they stayed in the area during the hurricane. Michele had a one-word answer: ‘Yolo’
The couple said Hurricane Helene “wasn’t as bad” as Ian, even though the storm caused widespread destruction in several states Thursday night.
Michelle and Larry said that while Helene caused widespread destruction in several states, leaving more than three million people without power, the damage does not compare to Ian’s two years ago.
The couple said they both lost cars that were swept away by Ian, but this time they felt safer and took Helene out on their “hurricane-safe” property.
“We lost power, but it’s not as bad as Ian was,” Michelle said. “But it’s still worse than we thought it was going to be.”
When asked why they continue to live on Sanibel Island after it has been continually hit by extreme weather events in recent weeks, Larry said the island is a “paradise” 99 percent of the time.
The couple revealed to Wink News that they were both strangers when Ian brought them together, as they were both “crazy” neighbors who decided to weather the storm at that time.
The couple admitted they were “crazy” for frequently weathering hurricanes, but said they had learned “to be a little more careful.”
‘We had not met. “We met during the hurricane, we spent two days walking afterward, so Ian brought us together,” Michelle said, adding “and now this happened” while pointing to an engagement ring.
They said they felt much more confident this time because “after living through Ian, it’s like you can get through anything.”
Michelle said: ‘Ian was destructive. Ian taught us all a lesson we never thought would happen here.
“A storm surge is always predicted, but it’s never happened like Ian, so, yeah, we’ve learned to watch a little bit, be a little more careful.”
The couple spoke as Hurricane Helene swept across several states after making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida on Thursday night, leaving more than three million people without power and killing at least fourteen people.
So far, at least 23 people have died in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.
These deaths included a sign that fell on a driver on a Tampa freeway, two people who drowned off the coast of Pinellas County and a four-year-old girl who lost her life in a weather-related accident in North Carolina.
Florida suffered extensive destruction when Hurricane Helene made landfall with wind gusts up to 140 mph
Some residents decided to ignore evacuation orders and woke up to heavy flooding on Friday.
A family walks through flooded waters in Crystal River, Florida, early Friday.
Debris left behind by Hurricane Helene after making landfall is seen in Cedar Key, Florida
As of Friday morning, more than 3 million homes and businesses were without power, including 1.2 million in South Carolina, 1.1 million in Florida (pictured), 1 million in Georgia and 400,000 in North Carolina. North.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the death toll may continue to rise as rescuers work through the rubble left behind.
The danger of the storm was highlighted when Floridians who decided not to evacuate were asked to write their names on their bodies so they could be identified if they died in the storm.
“Please write your name, date of birth and important information on your arm or leg with a PERMANENT MARKER so you can be identified and your family notified,” the sheriff’s office in largely rural Taylor County warned those They decided not to evacuate in a Facebook post. .
Helene made its first landfall with maximum sustained wind gusts of up to 140 mph, prompting weather warnings well beyond the Florida coast into northern Georgia and western North Carolina.
As of Friday morning, more than 3 million homes and businesses were without power, including 1.2 million in South Carolina, 1.1 million in Florida, 1 million in Georgia and 400,000 in North Carolina, according to the site poweroutage.us tracking.
The governors of those states, as well as Alabama and Virginia, declared emergencies.
“When Floridians wake up tomorrow morning, we will find a state where there has most likely been additional loss of life and there will certainly be loss of property,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference on Thursday. evening.
Early Friday, Helene was downgraded to a Category 1 storm as it passed through Georgia, after leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
A Citrus County firefighter carries 11-year-old Michael Cribbins through floodwaters in Crystal River, Florida, Friday morning.
The powerful storm tore a highway from its foundation in Florida, where authorities urged residents to evacuate Thursday night.
The weather system hit the Big Bend area on Florida’s Gulf Coast around 11:10 p.m. CDT with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph.
As the hurricane moved through Georgia, Fox Weather reporter Bob Van Dillen was forced to interrupt his live shoot to rescue a woman. trapped in her car, which generated impressive images.
Van Dillen sprang into action while reporting live north of Atlanta, Georgia, where Helene passed through Friday morning after making landfall in Florida hours earlier.
Van Dillen began by noting that the stranded woman “drove straight into the floodwaters,” and could be heard screaming for help as she told the studio she had dialed 911 and was waiting for firefighters.
As the screaming continued during his broadcast, Van Dillen interrupted his live shot to go in and help the woman, and Fox anchors in the studio called him a “hero” as he carried her to safety in waters up to his neck. chest.
Van Dillen returned to the air after saving the woman and said she went into the flood waters because she lost faith that 911 firefighters would rescue her in time.
Fox Weather reporter Bob Van Dillen sprang into action while reporting live in north Atlanta, Georgia, to rescue a woman trapped in her car by Hurricane Helene.
“It’s hard not to, because 911 gets a lot of calls,” he said while returning to Fox and Friends. “It’s going to take a long time to get here, but the firefighters finally arrived.”
The meteorologist said that when he first approached the woman, she “panicked” and “really didn’t make much sense.”
‘She still had the seat buckle on. And she had the window down so low and she’s trying to talk to me through it,” he continued.
“So, I was trying to open the door and the water pressure wouldn’t allow me to do it,” he said, explaining that the woman had to let water into her car in order to save her.
“(The water was) up to my chest and there was a bit of a current, but she was also a short lady, probably around five feet tall.”
He concluded: “I think the panic factor was kicking in. And when you start to panic and you’re in the water and it starts to get cold, things can really go downhill quickly.” “So I just… couldn’t wait.”