“We thought, ‘Is this fake news? Do we evacuate or not?’ That’s why a lot of people on the island didn’t leave.

Many islanders hadn’t trusted Ian’s forecast, McConnell said, because warnings for past years’ hurricane dangers were exaggerated. But they still weren’t spared the terror of the rising flood. She evacuated the day before the storm to take shelter with fellow islander and high school English teacher Patrick Romcoe in a friend’s second home several miles inland. Run From the WaterĬara McConnell, 50, is a real estate agent who moved into her apartment on Fort Myers Beach just three months earlier. Its impact was felt throughout much of the state, leaving millions without power and causing rivers to spill over for days, becoming the deadliest Florida hurricane since 1935. 28 as a furious wall of water wiped away entire buildings and flooded homes miles inland. Instead, Ian made landfall just a few mph shy of Cat 5 strength along the barrier islands of Lee County. Westchase and our neighboring communities were again spared a direct blow from a major hurricane. Then, just like with Charley in 2004 and Irma in 2017 – it wobbled. He and friends Nathan and Blake Rosso filled more than 150 sandbags, delivering them to homes in Westchase and Palm Harbor as Ian approached. On the Friday before the hurricane, Shane began offering to help locals prep for the storm through the Westchase Neighborhood News Facebook group. Seventeen-year-old Shane stayed with dad Pat, who wasn’t worried about the storm. While mom Shawni and 24-year-old daughter Samantha scooped up the grandparents from Oldsmar and headed to a relative’s house in Orlando, son Jesse, 28, stayed with his fiancée’s family in Tampa.

The Ely family of The Fords in Westchase did a bit of both. Some of us left when evacuations were announced. As Hurricane Ian inched closer and gained strength, some of us bought supplies and dusted off hurricane shutters. For five days, the weather forecasts warned of the spinning monster in the Gulf, heading right for Tampa Bay.

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