ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (WPMI) While the Gulf Coast sees it's share of snowbirds trading snow for sand, many New Englanders said Friday they are concerned for their homes and relatives as blizzards pound the East Coast.
Forecasters said the winter storm hitting New England could be one for the history books in terms of snow fall. The storm is said to affect about 25 million people.
Sally Alvarez said this is her first winter in Alabama. The snowbird from Trumbull, Conn. said catching beads beats catching a cold any day.
"We have three feet of snow up that way, and it's icy," Alvarez said. "We do call up every day and tell them that it's really nasty down here. We call the family back home."
Though Alvarez said she saw winter storms like the one slamming her hometown before, she said she worries for her daughter in Boston.
"They're getting over three feet and ice and rain on top of that," Alvarez said. "She was coming home from work yesterday, the day before, and she said every grocery store is out the door with people, every gas station has tons of people in line. She couldn't get home from work."
Those who were able to escape the snow for The Mystical Order of Mirams Parade in Orange Beach said their snow-blanketed homes are on their minds.
"I think they are," Vicky Universal of Rochester, New York said. "The ones that are down here with us because they don't know if their houses-all the pipes freeze up if the power goes out. Somebody lost the key to my mother's house so we can't get in to turn on the heat."
But these snowbirds said the bitter winter storms are all part of being a New Englander.
"We get snow pretty much every year, and we get some good storms," Alvarez said.
