Family leaves Florida home to stay with sister in central Kentucky

The Romanos left their house in Cape Coral, FL to stay with family in Lexington while power and cell service is restored

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – A Lexington family is hosting some extended family members from Florida after their community was hit by Hurricane Ian. While they don’t know how long they’ll stay in Lexington, they’re grateful to have family to lean on after a natural disaster.

“We would like to be back whenever we can be with power and normality as far as our life goes but you know, again that goes back to being great that we have family that’ll take good care of us for a little bit,” says Tom Romano.

Tom and Aubrey Romano live in Cape Coral, Florida, an area that was in Evacuation Zone A during Hurricane Ian meaning it was possible to experience storm surge up to 12 feet.

“We were very, very nervous,” says Aubrey Romano.

However, the Romanos say they got incredibly lucky and the damage to their home is minor.

“We did get a little bit of water inside our foyer, there was a lot of debris, but compared to what other people got, we were incredibly fortunate,” says Aubrey.

Other people, like students and families from the high school the couple teaches at. The Romanos say Island Coast High School is being used as a shelter for people in the community, the hallways and gym lined with people.

“They’re trying to do student wellness checks, but that’s very difficult when there’s no cell service and no internet for them to even be able to respond through email,” says Aubrey.

The Romanos are staying with their three kids with Aubrey’s sister and her family here in Lexington, but Aubrey and her sister’s parents are still down in Florida in Port Charlotte, another area impacted by Ian.

Their parents say while their house also experienced minor damage, they’re staying to help out their community however they can.

“So many people just feel so helpless when this happens, they don’t know what, which direction to go,” says Tammy Shellabarger.

“Sometimes just being aware of the little things that somebody needs and to be able to help them out,” says Mike Shellabarger. “I think that’s what you see from just the people who live here.”