One family from Virginia Beach has evacuated to The Valley to stay safe during Hurricane Irene.

Chanda Clarke watches the news as Hurricane Irene rips through her hometown. She evacuated Virginia Beach yesterday.

"The first thing my husband and I talked about was when Katrina hit, and you saw people on their roofs waving for help, that was kind of one of the first things that we thought of so we wanted to get out," said Clarke. "I just hope that it's not crazy when we get back."

She's now staying with her friend in Churchville to escape the storm.

"Oh I love it cause then she gets to come visit for a reason, there's no work to keep her there now, she had no choice," said Christine Ordewald, Clarke's friend.

Christine says she was just being a good friend, helping someone in need.

"I had asked them if they were coming and they were initially going to try to stay, but when they said they were coming I was really excited," said Ordewald.

"We were afraid we'd get stuck in our house with the water because our house is about 13 miles from the beach," said Clarke.

Clarke says the evacuation process was easygoing and that her and her husband left everything behind, only taking their children with them to The Valley.

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