Hurricane Ian 01

Please note: As of this entry, my posts are being backdated as to give “real time writing” for what happened during Hurricane Ian.

The posts will be mixed with personal thoughts, news interjections and random items. I tried my best to give times, but there are points I did not write it down, so you’ll have to understand that there may be some time spans.

As I typed this out, if I’m talking about news for some bullet points in a row, I am trying to keep them together. In instances where I am rambling, as I usually do, don’t mind the nonsensical freeform. That too, I tried to lump together.

Reader discretion advised (there is some TMI [“too much information”]).

Pictures to come at some point (over 1,000 snaps).

 

September 28, 2022

(This day does not have any time stamps and I may get some things confused. You’ll see why in a bit.)

 

We started to get alerts by 10:30am to “go into the safe areas of the home”. We had the TV on as loud as we could stand it, not knowing how long the power would be on We had made a living area in the bathroom and sat waiting to see what would happen. 

           

Around 12:15pm, the power started to flicker and finally cut off at 12:40pm.  It was time for the battery operated radio.

 

Throughout the afternoon, wind howled, shutters shook. All doors were closed and the radio was at full stream. We had a religious candle as our only light source.

 

There were points we thought we could get out of the bathroom and walk around the house. Even during some of the heaviest winds, we wanted to make sure everything was staying secure, and it was.

 

Except my bedroom.

 

My bedroom shutters got unlocked from the wind and kept trying to open. It didn’t take much to get the hinge unlocked and it was only a matter of time before the right side shutter creeped over to a stopping point. It didn’t break, it just got unlocked and pushed on the track.

 

We also needed to start to put a towel at the front door because water was occasionally trickling in from the wind pulling at the door. The way the condos are situated, it creates a wind tunnel for either the main door or the bedrooms. Which is why my shutter opened and the door was trying to open. Not by a lot, but I think over the years the molding is wearing down. I’ve noticed the frame expands during the afternoon heat, so it’s hard to get the door open and closed some days. So maybe that is why the wind was able to get water inside for the night. It wasn’t major flooding, just a trinkling of water - enough to soak an end of the towel.

 

We went back to the bathroom to stay in place because it was getting loud again.

 

The wall behind our unit makes the wind really growl and shake everything. My mother equated it to sound like several trains were trying to get in the house because the shutters kept banging, yet, I took a video and sent it to Tay. He said it sounds like someone is plinking on a drum set.

We kept alternating between listening to the radio and checking the house. Check the house, listen to the radio. You don’t know how dark it gets or how weirdly creepy it gets until you’re in a light blocked house and it’s badly storming out.

 

At one point in the afternoon, cell service started to get buggy. We could not make texts to anyone without messages being repeated. Making calls were okay – not the best, but you could get the point across. I could place some calls, but my mother couldn’t place or receive. Some of her texts failed to people but mostly both phones ended up being turned off around eight at night. I think the cell towers are down.

The last major update we got from the government on the radio was them saying this is a historic storm. It touched the outer limits of being a category 5 hurricane even though it stayed at a four. A very high intense category 4. It would end up decimating most of Lee county and will take months to repair as the infrastructure is broken in lots of places but they won’t know until first light of day when it’s safe to go out, as people were already venturing out during the eye of the storm. There is a boil water notice in effect and hopefully there is power to boil it. curfew is in effect immediately – everyone must be in at 6pm until further notice.

 

When and if the storm surge hits, it will be a telling sign on how much worse it will get for people. Again, luckily we didn’t get water in the house.

 

Due to my shutters opening during daylight hours, we saw a few palm trees down across the street.

 

            We called a neighbor (Betty) and asked her how she was doing. Some of her shutters broke open too and she’s on the second floor, so she can get to them from the inside.

 

            By night fall, the radio was getting people to call in to report damages. MAJOR flooding abound. From what people were saying, Fort Myers Beach is basically gone. There were people who stayed on the beach and the islands even though reports were saying this would be a really bad storm – worst case scenario was upon us. People need to get out while they could but some didn’t listen. The flooding came to their houses and they were swimming to higher ground. They can’t be saved tonight – face the rest of the storm where ever you are because EMS can’t leave in high wind and you were warned to leave hours ago. Davis Road Trailer Park is completely flattened. Anyone who stayed there, others hope they are okay. The people who left will have nothing to come back to. The whole park is under water and blown over. It’ll need to be bulldozed and cleared. Nervous Nellie’s on the beach is gone. People in some of the smaller islands who stayed, called in to the news to report what they were seeing. One guy said he was in a multi ton pressurized machine going through his area and cleaning up. He was seeing people on bikes riding around like it was nothing. The news said he has to get to shelter and he can’t be out. It was calm at the moment for him, but it was just the end of the first half. He said he understood, but where he is located, if it doesn’t start getting cleared, no one in the area can get help, clean up, and anyone coming onto the area won’t be able to get far. He was trying to be proactive and the news said that it’s nice, but we aren’t done yet with the storm.

 

            By 9:30m, it felt safe enough to sleep in our own beds as the storm was continuing to move away. It had settled down enough that we felt it was okay to leave the bathroom.

 

            Ended up waking up at 11:30pm to check everything and found we had no water, no power, no toilets to flush. Even the backup pumps were under water, the news said. So back to sleep we go.

            This was written on September 29, 2022 at 5:30am after checking the house out.