25 years after Hurricane Andrew, Mooresville resident host Irma evacuees

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Mooresville resident Susan Rice showed photos of the aftermath from Hurricane Andrew 25 years ago when she lived in Florida.

"We stayed in this house, we had 10 people in a little tiny bathroom,” Rice said. “When you walked out, it was like the 'Wizard of Oz,’ like you walked out and you weren't in Kansas anymore."

Now, her Mooresville home is full of family from Sarasota, Homestead, Daytona, Miami and Savannah, seeking refuge from Hurricane Irma.

"That's just my thing to always remember because it is something you never forget,” Rice said. “And that's why I wanted everybody to get out of there.

Channel 9 reporter Elsa Gillis was at the Mooresville home Saturday as the children ran around the house playing and everyone was smiling and laughing.

But inside, they are waiting for Irma.

“It's a lot of anxiety,” Rice said. “We joke around and stuff, but there's a lot of anxiety. It's going to be a really long day.”

Mary Wyant sat on the couch alongside family in front of the TV watching and waiting to see whether their homes will be spared.

"You're just waiting and seeing. That's all you can do," Wyant said.  "You don't know, even when we were driving up here. It was a 12-hour drive. Did I do the right thing? Did I do the right thing?"

Wyant said she is having flashbacks from Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and knows for some of her family, friends and home state, the worst is yet to come.

"After the cameras go away and everybody gets back to their life, they're going through it, forever, and ever,” Rice said. “It's something that's going to affect them forever."

Cox Media Group