A man just living minutes away from Jerry and Kay Agresti took video of a large tree crashing down. Just one of the many impacts of Hurricane Matthew.
The man that took the video decided to ride out the storm.
The Agrestis would never take the chance of staying at their home on the St. John's River.
"For us it is what you need to do. They say evacuate. We evacuate," said Kay Agresti.
Her husband of 49 years, Jerry said, "The dock and the boat I do not expect to see that when I get back."
Past experience also told them to get off dodge earlier rather than later. The last time they evacuated:
"It took us 10 hours to go 70 miles to the West, so this time we left early," said Jerry Agresti.
They've been here since Wednesday.
The Agrestis are just one of thousands that headed to the Bay area to escape the storm.And it's not just finding refuge at Bay area hotels. Many also headed to Tampa International airport after airports in the Hurricane's path shut down operations.
"It was crazy. But we decided to drive to Tampa from Orlando, said Tom Angotti.
Luckily the Agnottis got a flight out of of TIA. But the family knew the risk before heading to Florida a week ago. They saved thousands for a first time vacation to Disney. Agnotti's daughter, Melissa Rogers said they weighed their options.
"It was one of those deals do we cancel and lose our money because we did not purchase any vacation insurance or do we take the risk and hope that everything works out with the hurricane?" said Rogers.
Rory McKay's flight was also canceled out of Orlando. He and his family have a bit father to go. They live in New Zealand. Now, it will take nearly twice as long to get home.
"It's been a bit of a hassle but we get to see two more cities of the USA," said McKay.
The Agrestis feel the hassle is a small price to pay. It's not worth messing with Mother Nature.
"I just hope we still have a home. but that's ok, there is anxiety with things going on," said Kay Agresti. "But what matters is we are safe, our family is safe, kids are safe everybody is good."
