jacksonville residents and said they'd never seen anything like this. take a listen to tracy and what her son eli had to tell me today. when you were hunkering down in the hallway, what was going through your mind? >> everything. just making sure that we were in the right part -- like, if there was somewhere better we could be. and just praying that everything was going to be okay. >> reporter: is this a city you recognize and grew up in? >> no. it's devastation completely. >> i protected my mom in matthew last year. >> reporter: you're a hurricane storm chaser and awesome guardian. give me five, brother. all right, so not all heroes wear capes. some of them have teddy bears. eli was the man and said he was protecting his mom not only in hurricane matthew but also through this hurricane. but really stephanie and ali, this is really the beginning of those recovery efforts. only now with the storm surge