(NewsNation) — Kyle Cullen, a storm chaser, was in Florida as Ian made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane Wednesday.
While resources are still scarce, as communities continue to assess the damage, Cullen said a few restaurants are open, as well as one gas station in town.
“I’ve been in Ida and Laura and this is categorically above these, not even close, Cullen said. “We were in Manasota Key and any structure that was built from the early ’80s, and below, was absolutely just wiped out.”
Cullen plans to head to Fort Myers Beach to help residents and do damage assessment.
“I would tell everybody, heed the warnings,” Cullen said. “Down here in this side of Florida has particularly been immune to this kind of damage. Now that they’ve seen one in this generation because it had been over 100 years, I believe that they’ll understand next time that they gotta go.”