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Fort Myers Beach man reunited with daughter after riding out Hurricane Ian at home

Heather Goode said was unable to reach her father for days after Hurricane Ian passed through the southwestern Florida region.

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Robert Goode stayed on Fort Myers Beach during Hurricane Ian.

His home started to flood and he escaped next door to a neighbor's house.

There, he was able to call his daughter Heather Goode during the storm, but then his phone stopped working.

Heather was unable to reach her father for days after Hurricane Ian passed through. She said she had no idea if he survived. 

“The beach is gone, so of course, I automatically thought the worst,” she said.

Heather started to post pictures of her father on social media asking if anyone had seen him. She had a lot of people sharing the posts and sharing prayers, but no one could confirm they had seen or heard from him.

A stranger then reached out to Heather letting her know she was heading to Fort Myers Beach and offered to try and track down Robert. 

“I messaged her with the last address I knew my dad was at,” Heather said.

The next day, Heather got a call she will never forget. 

“She called me and she was crying, I could tell," Heather said. "The stranger said 'Heather, I have your dad, he’s okay."

Robert said he is staying at his daughter's house in Fort Myers after losing nearly everything he owned.

Four of Robert's friends who also stayed on Fort Myers Beach didn’t make it out of the storm, and several of his other friends are still missing. 

“It's horrible. I love them and I miss them,” he said.

Heather said she will always be thankful to the kind woman who helped find Robert and that it's amazing to see strangers helping those in need. 

“I'm just glad he’s here and okay,” she said.

    

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