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A woman in Naples, Florida, is reunited with her mom after turning to social media to find her in the wake of Hurricane Ian. Beth Booker helped her mom Carole McDanel prepare her Fort Myers home for Hurricane Ian, but the 78-year-old didn’t want to evacuate inland to Beth’s home, because it doesn’t have storm shutters, which her home does. At the time, everyone expected the storm to hit a little further north, but it ended up heading straight through their area.
During the storm, Carole sent pictures to her daughter of the water almost reaching her second floor porch before she became unreachable by phone. Desperate to find out if her mother was okay, Beth turned to social media to get help rescuing her. "I have never felt more helpless in my life. I called my mom and it went to voicemail. I'm praying that she put her phone on airplane mode to save battery. So scared. Can't stop shaking," she tweeted. "Please, angels. Get her through this."
Beth’s posts with the hashtag #GetCaroleHome received thousands of responses from people wanting to help get the message out. The next day, Beth’s husband and a friend went out by boat to try and find Carole. They located her sitting on the couch, high and dry on the second floor of her home and by that afternoon, she was reunited with her grateful daughter. Beth was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support she received from strangers across the globe and is now using the resources she discovered in her search for her mom to help others connect with their loved ones who might still be missing after the storm.
Source: Good Morning America