KENOSHA, Wis. — Normally, Jordan Albright is always focused on her academics. But on Wednesday, the only thing on the Carthage College senior's mind was her family.
"Hi, mom I've just been calling you, trying to get a hold of you. I just wanted to say I love you," said Albright, as she left a message on her mom's cell phone.
Albright's mom, dad, and brother are all hunkered down in Naples, Florida where Hurricane Ian made landfall early Wednesday afternoon.
"Not being able to communicate face-to-face with them is hard, especially not being able to call them right now," said Albright.
Albright says her family moved from Chicago to an apartment in Naples last year. By the time they learned how strong the hurricane had gotten, it was too late to evacuate.
"All of a sudden we started hearing this is a category four, this is a bigger deal than we had thought it was going to be," Albright said.
Now, all Albright can do is wait for text message updates from her family's group chat. She says their cell phone and Wifi service went out there a while ago.
"Does the thumbs up mean we're okay?" asked TMJ4 News reporter Taylor Lumpkin.
"Yup. We were hoping that if it was a shorter message that would send faster," said Albright.
As she continuously checks weather updates on her phone and watches Hurricane Ian's every move from more than 1,000 miles away, Albright says all she can do is pray that her family and the entire state of Florida make it out okay.
"I will definitely give them a big hug next time I see them because this was definitely a scary experience."
