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Pittsburgh Couple Living In Myrtle Beach Prepare For Hurricane Florence

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A couple from the Pittsburgh area who live in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, are among those preparing to weather the storm. While one of them could have come back to Pittsburgh, the other one does not have a choice.

Chris Parks is a sports anchor for WBTW in Myrtle Beach, but he will be covering Hurricane Florence the next several days.

"It's all hands on deck with us. I mean, being in sports myself, my weekend anchor, our sales staff is going to be providing food helping us," said Parks.

Chris Parks Brittany Donatelli Hurriance Florence - Myrtle Beach South Carolina
Photo Credit: (KDKA)

Chris' fiancée, Brittany Donatelli, and their dog, Winnie, will be hunkering down at Chris' station.

"We packed about three or four days worth of belongings, toiletries, clothes, you name it & sleeping bags, air mattresses and everything. We're planning on camping out at our station," said Parks.

Brittany works at Coastal Carolina University and could have come back to Pittsburgh.

"Knowing the aftermath of a hurricane, trees can be down, there can be flooding, there can be zero electricity. I wanted to be closer to home," said Donatelli.

She acknowledges staying may not be the best decision, but at least they will all be together.

"We've got two levels to our building. Downstairs everyone will be sleeping in there. Our second floor is where our newsroom is at, so everyone will be working there," said Parks.

Parks and Donatelli are planning to get married in October of next year, but the hurricane has them re-thinking the date and having to bring something special to the station.

"My wedding dress arrived early, so Chris helped me pack it up and we had to put it in the news station. Kind of sad, but as long as it's safe," said Donatelli.

They feel they have done all they can to prepare for the hurricane and its aftermath.

"A bunch of canned foods, non-perishable items. We bought a lot of granola. Items you can eat that has protein in it because again you don't know when the electricity is going to come back on," said Donatelli. "And instant coffee -- lots of that too," said Parks while laughing. "Yes, that's the number one thing," said Donatelli while laughing too.

They are trying to stay positive. As big Steeler fans, they are hoping to watch them beat the Chiefs on Sunday.

"If we still have power in the station, which we should, we'll get it off our generator, we'll hopefully get to watch a little bit of the game on Sunday," said Parks with a smile.

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