Hurricane Ian Affecting Families With Ties to Connecticut

Rob Perotti was glued to the forecast on Wednesday as he watched Hurricane Ian take aim at Florida’s west coast, where his daughter Ali is. She works as a manager at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Bonita Springs, Florida, which is south of Fort Myers.

“She's 26 years old and she's still my baby. I just cannot believe that she's riding this out, but she's safe. She's got a lot of common sense and she knows what she's doing. And she's there with a lot of people, a lot of friends, so I know she'll be okay, said Rob Perotti, of Canaan.

The Perotti’s live in Canaan. Ali took the job at the resort three years ago and this is her first time riding out a hurricane. Her dad said she’s been busy as 250 power company employees are staying at the hotel. Bonita Springs already experienced a lot of rain and wind on Wednesday morning.

“Bonita Springs, where she is at, is only 10 feet above sea level. So as I told her, I said, 'you know, if you wind up with a 12 foot storm surge plus, 12 inches of rain, you'll see your car floating away, nevermind you. So be careful,” said Perotti. “But she's careful. It's still hard. It’s your child and don't want to see them caught in the middle of this,” Perotti said.

Meantime the Langevins made a last minute decision on Tuesday to leave their home in Port Charlotte, Florida, just north of Fort Meyers where the hurricane is heading.

They moved from Thomaston, Connecticut, five years ago and are the parents of an NBC Connecticut employee.

“We didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay. I thought our house could withstand the wind, no problem. But when they started talking about 12 feet storm surge, I was like, okay, 'well now we got to go,” said Marcel Langevin, who lives in Port Charlotte, Florida.

So they grabbed some clothes, some important documents, snacks and their dog and left, headed for Orlando.

What is normally a two hour trip, took them more than five hours because of the traffic.

On Wednesday morning, they had a tornado watch in Orlando and already some rain.

“We hope to be safer here,” said JoAnn Langevin, from Port Charlotte, Florida. “We're just praying no one loses their life. Scary.”

Their plan is to hopefully ride out the storm until Friday, but they have no idea what they’ll return to.

“The whole state is going to be underwater basically. So even when it's over, we don't know if we could actually get on the highway to get back home because you know, we have no clue right now,” said Langevin. “We're hoping our house is still there.”