As Hurricane Ian hammered Florida Wednesday night, Julie Hittle remained glued to her phone, desperately waiting for updates on how her brother and his girlfriend were faring in the devastating storm.
“As the water started to rise, he would text me, ‘The water is about 2 feet from the window sill,’” Hittle told The Daily Beast on Thursday. “Then he would send another, ‘The water is 1 foot.’ Then, ‘Now the water is in the apartment.’”
The next update was even more dire: Hittle’s brother, Chip Aldridge, his girlfriend, Suzanne Merlot, their cocker spaniel, Kobie, and a friend were all climbing through a window to escape the rising stormwaters in the one-story Naples home. As they waited for help on top of the hood of their car, they were rescued by a kind stranger paddling down the road in a kayak and dropped safely on a covered sidewalk, Hittle said.
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