The Mehdees
The family's red 4x4 driving north on an empty Florida road at dusk, drops of rain rising into the sky

Move North, Episode 1

The Mehdees, Day 3

A family survival story

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Move North

The story so far

On a Sunday in Florida, at 9:41, the rain stops in midair and goes back up. Days later something is coming up from the Gulf, a few miles a day, pulling the clouds and the water toward it. The birds leave first. Then the phones drift and the networks fail. We pack the red 4x4 and drive north, trying to stay ahead of it.

Why Was I-95 Southbound Empty?, Move North, Episode 1

Move North, Episode 1

Days 1 to 3

Why Was I-95 Southbound Empty?

One quiet Sunday in Florida, the rain stopped falling. Three days later, every car on I-95 was heading north, and the southbound side was completely empty.

The first chapter

Move North

Day 1 is the Sunday the rain went up. After that the radio only ever says one thing, so the family does it: they drive north, one town, one night, one problem at a time. The road can take hundreds of days.

Watch Move North
  1. Cash

    They packed cards, not cash. On the road north, that turns out to matter.

  2. Power

    Two laptops, a power station, a cooler for the baby's milk. Every charge is counted.

  3. Signal

    Calls drop, voice notes arrive late, and the network thins out the further north they go.

  4. The baby bag

    Bottles, diapers and naps still happen, in the back seat, in the middle of it all.

  5. Shelter

    Motels with no staff, houses people left behind. Every night a new place, and a new problem.

  6. Decency

    Whatever they find, they take only what they need. That is the heart of it.

Who is in the car

The family

The family drawn as stick figures: Dad in a navy cap and a red hoodie with the family car logo on the chest, Shahrin in an olive hijab, Inaaya in pink glasses and pigtails, and baby Hamza

Where to watch