Former WCTV Anchor Michael Hudak Forced to Quickly Seek Refuge from Hurricane Ian

VANDERBILT BEACH, Fla. (WCTV) - A former WCTV anchor quicky went from covering Hurricane Ian to seeking refuge from it on Wednesday.

Michael Hudak, who worked in Tallahassee for several years, was covering the storm for his current station WINK News in Fort Myers.

Hudak tells WCTV he was assigned to Vanderbilt Beach, which is located in North Naples and is around 50 miles south of where Ian made landfall.

As conditions worsened, Hudak and several of his co-workers were forced to retreat back to their hotel.

That’s where, as of Wednesday night, he told WCTV they were riding out the worst of the storm.

“We saw the storm surge start to creep up the stairs of the hotel,” Hudak recalls.

“At one point, we had to move from the first floor to the second floor to the third floor because the water kept rising. Now we’re surrounded by water.”

That’s when Hudak says he started to feel nervous about the situation he found himself in.

“I’m like, OK, we are by ourselves out here, we’ve got to survive.”

Hudak told WCTV that the waters were starting to recede, and that he and his co-workers were hopeful they’d receive assistance as soon as possible.

However, he also understands that thousands of others are most likely stranded as well, so it could take some time.

Copyright 2022 WCTV. All rights reserved.