“It was everything I could have imagined.” Lexington woman joins NOAA in Imelda flight mission

LEXINGTON, Va. (WDBJ) - Imagine flying into the heart of a hurricane.

That’s exactly what a young woman from our hometowns got to do as Hurricane Imelda made its way into the Atlantic.

Saturday, Kayleigh Addington got an an unexpected phone call that would fulfill a lifelong passion.

On the line was someone from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , telling Addington there was a chance she could fly on one of the agency’s missions Sunday morning.

“I dropped everything, packed a bag [and] drove to Florida,” said Addington.

It’s been something Addington, a Lexington native and Virginia Tech graduate, has been working toward most of her life. She began her educational career studying all things storms at Virginia Tech, getting a double major in meteorology and geograp