Strangers turn into family fleeing Milton

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Natural disasters often bring forward horrible stories of destruction and loss but have a way of helping people find their humanity.

Jessica Roberts found there was still good in this world as she was forced to navigate Hurricane Milton alone in Tampa as a brand-new Floridian.

Roberts just moved to Florida from Indiana two months ago but needed to get home to see her mother who was sick in the hospital for the last month. She booked a flight before the hurricane came in but was stranded when that flight was canceled Monday.

In the chaos, she found her saviors, a family of Hoosiers who knew they were there that day to offer her a ride home to ensure she could see her mom.

“There are still blessings out there,” Roberts said. “There are people willing to go above and beyond and it meant the world to my mom.”

Roberts met Billy Hill, his daughter Brittany Sibbing, and his grandson in the airport as they individually tried to make plans to get out of Florida.

Hill moved to Florida at the beginning of this year. His daughter and grandson were there visiting him from Indiana for his birthday. All three also had previously scheduled flights back to Indiana that were canceled because of the storm.

Roberts told Hill and Sibbing she planned to drive her old and unreliable car out of Florida to try and get home. The two adults decided that could not happen and decided to offer Roberts, a complete stranger, a ride.

“I said, ‘I know you don’t know us, I promise we’re not crazy but you can ride back with us because we are going to Indiana too,'” Sibbing said. “And she was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, you guys would let me ride with you?'”

Sibbing said ultimately her dad was the driving force behind the decision. She was unsure if she would have been confident enough to offer a stranger a ride alone.

“We’re all from Indiana. We’re all trying to get out of here. We’re all trying to get to the same place,” Hill said.

Complete strangers when they got to the airport, the crew was as good as family when they left.

“It felt like God was kind of telling us, ‘You need to intercede for this girl, too, help her out.’ She’s in the same situation and it felt like my daughter,” Hill said.

For Roberts, the trip was not just to see her mom. She was originally planning to come home for the one-year Celebration of Life of her boyfriend who died last year.

She believed that he was with her on the entire journey.

“I think he truly wanted me here,” Roberts said. “I think that’s a big sign. Big sign.”

Roberts says Florida was her fresh start after a tough year, and the 21-hour car ride became the blessing that showed her there is still good in this world. “There are people going out of their way to make sure people are safe.”