Nathan Meyer was born and raised in Florida and was one of the millions forced to evacuate the state to avoid the wrath of Hurricane Irma.
Meyer is back in Kingston now with his growing family and is thankful to be out of the path of destruction.
“(Key West is) torn to shreds,” said Meyer. “There’s boats on the highway. There’s trailers that are up the Keys that have been blown onto the middle of the highway. There’s gas stations that have been torn apart 20 minutes from my house.”
It took him three days to drive from his house in Key West to Ohio to secure his belongings. After that, he drove to Kingston where his girlfriend was more than a week overdue and anxiously awaiting his arrival.
“I didn’t think he was going to make it out of Florida with no gas at any stations. Once he got out of Florida it was a little more of a sigh of relief,” said Courtney Byford, Meyer’s Girlfriend.
Meyer is happy to be reunited with Byford and her daughter but he is still worried about his hometown and state.
“I was able to get a hold of a friend who evacuated to Miami,” said Meyer.” That’s as far as you can call from. That point on. If you try to call someone from Key West… cells down, no water, no electricity and the National Guard is there.”
Meyer has been able to access satellite imagery to keep an eye on his home. The images show minimal damage to his neighbourhood.
Though it has been a roller coaster of emotions for the last few days, the couple is excited to start a new chapter together.
“Everything has worked out in our favour so far. We’re both very lucky,” said Byford.