Transcript for ABC News’ Ginger Zee details riding out Hurricane Michael
And families are just now emerging from hotels and from homes to survey this incredible damage. So many streets under water tonight. This hurricane made landfall not far from Panama City, in, on Mexico beach, right on the U.S. Coastline. And there was an incredible moment there today, we talk so much about storm surge with these hurricanes, and ginger zee was on the air, she was reporting about the power of the surge when she suddenly actually saw a home lifted off its foundation by the surge and carried right down the street beside her. It was incredible to witness. Tonight, that moment, and what ginger has now discovered afterward in surveying the damage. Reporter: We start the day reporting on a balcony, across from a blue house. If I don’t feel comfortable, I’m going to stand right inside the door here. You could feel Michael on the way. The pressure suddenly plummeting. My ears have been popping for a half hour. I’m not standing outside, because I can’t and I won’t. Because it is just too dangerous. We have seen debris flying, pieces of home. Certainly huge. You can hear it, I mean, just take a listen to that. That incredible roar. The wind overwhelming, stronger than in nearly a half a century. I am constantly trying to keep the cool. We are in a cement building, we are in the safest place we can possibly be at this point. We’re not going to be the only winning dealing with hurricane force winds. We ride out Michael’s direct hit on the second floor of a cement condo in Mexico beach. I don’t know if you’re hearing the crashing. Large chunks debris seen flying by. I think at this point, we’re going to start to wrap up. We retreat inside. Look, we’ve had to step away from the door, because debris is flying so close to our hotel. That, you see that right there, it looks so much like the hurricane I always describe to people, and that is a washing machine. You have all of this water, you have all of this wind. And you can’t see anything. Just 20 minutes ago I was able to see the homes right across. I have no idea if they’re there still. And then, the car wash like conditions, we manage to catch a glimpse of something even more terrifying. I just saw something I have never seen in real life. I saw an entire home taken off of its foundation and rolled down the street. That is the type of storm surge we’re talking about right here in Mexico City at this moment. You can’t see it, but we could just start to make out — and I saw the roof on its side rolling down the street. My heart is racing. I, again, have never seen something like an entire home, a well-built home, rolling down the street. We just watched that happen in real time. And I’ll tell you right now, it makes you shake. We see first-hand that storm surge can be the most dangerous part of the storm. That is where the house used to be. Finally, we’re ready to held outside again. So, we rode out hurricane Michael in an interior space that was safe, but no it is the first time that it is safe to come out here. And I have to tell you, the home that I saw floating away, used to be standing there, it is no longer. That blue house that was across from us is no longer there. Simply gone. And then, we head over to the other side of the condo. We’ve seen a lot on the front, but seeing all this damage, more than just snapped trees, so much debris. Where homes were, they are not. They are moved. They are — that one there, off of its foundation. In the middle of a road. Cars everywhere under water. It’s really — wild to see in its raw moments. There’s damage as far as our eye can see. You can see that home washed into the street by the storm surge, the truck there in front, that’s where that house I saw washing down the street came from. And down this way, there are at least a half dozen homes, people told us there was one woman that stayed in a house that is now no longer. We don’t know if she’s alive. David? Ginger zee and your team, we’re just glad you are safe tonight.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
