Valley natives ride out Hurricane Irma's wrath

Valley natives are among the many that were forced to evacuate or ride out Hurricane Irma as she unleashed violent winds and strong storm surges across the state of Florida.

21 News is keeping in touch with viewers and followers from the Youngstown region who were in the storm's path through social media platforms.

"There's just a ton of trees down. Power lines down everywhere," said Matthew Altiero, originally from Niles and now residing in Daytona. 

He shared a video of Riverside Drive, the Intracoastal main route near Daytona Beach, where flooding has turned the road into a river.

"Basically the entire road is flooded up into people's yards. Intracoastal waters actually coming up over the road still," he said.

Altiero still has power, but many don't as outages are widespread.

The storm's eye passed through the Orlando area, where Austintown native Frank Buckley shared pictures of down trees, siding, and fences.

"Just thankful that it's over," Buckley said.

He says the storm sounded like a freight train as it passed through his neighborhood.

"House is rattling. Our back patio is screened in with a metal roof and that was rattling, thought maybe it would peel away, but it didn't," he said.

Buckley invited his parents, who recently moved from the Valley to Florida, to stay with him during the storm's most powerful push.

While he stocked up on fuel, propane, and water, he knows finding supplies in the days to come will be the biggest concern for hurricane victims.

More than six million people were urged to evacuate ahead of Irma's landfall, the most in state history.

Youngstown Native Gina Clausen-Lozier and her husband took their small children to Atlanta to get out of Irma's path. Their trip from West Palm Beach to a hotel in Atlanta took them nearly 24 hours to make. 

"We are likely going to leave tomorrow, hoping that some of the people on the west coast don't make the trip back until Wednesday," said Clausen-Lozier of West Palm Beach.

With curfews still in place, Gina and her family will be fighting the clock, another challenge from the storm that left its mark on much of the state. She too worries about having enough fuel in her gas tank to get home.