The Night Before Ian
Thinking back a mere 30 days ago, people were fully immersed in preparation and anticipation for Hurricane Ian. With Florida in his sights, the enormity of this potential Cat-5 hurricane loomed over locals and newbies. “Should we stay or should we go” was on everyone’s mind. With shelves empty of water and generators, and long lines at the gas pump, people were frantic as time was running out to procure supplies to withstand several days of power outages. There was barely enough time to tune into the updates on the hurricane’s path. For those of us who have been through this before, we were sure we would be affected in some way. And as the cone of uncertainty became more certain for us in Southwest Florida, the time to leave was gone and all there was to do the night before was batten down the hatches and hope for the best.
We lost our power at 1:00 AM the night before the hurricane made landfall. We weren’t surprised, as the transformer behind us seems to blow in even the mildest of storms. The next day started out cloudy and windy; those long winds and expansive clouds only a tropical storm can produce that really make you feel infinitesimal in the face of what is coming. As the hurricane roared closer, we felt like we were in the thick of things, but the news indicated it was still a couple of hours away from making landfall. My husband checked and re-checked the anchor system keeping the garage door down, and we looked at our hurricane shutters like knights in shining armor, in place to protect us from the big bad beast fast approaching. We paced a lot while our teenagers slept, like teenagers tend to do.
Everyone has their “oh boy” moment (insert your curse word of choice) in situations like a massive storm with winds about to barrel down, over 150 miles per hour. You run the scenarios through your head, just like you did a thousand times over when you decided to stay put in your home versus evacuate. The difference now is that your choice to leave doesn’t exist so the pressure for your decision to stay to be a right one is everything. Again, life making the individual feel ridiculously small. Googling videos of similar storms seems like a clever idea until it is unfathomable to watch because who could survive such a thing? That was our “oh boy” moment.
Being pretty far from the coast felt like a safety net from impending Ian in the days leading up to impact. Plus, we were relying on sacred Indigenous burial grounds and myths that had protected the Sarasota area for one hundred years to do so again. (Why not, hope is hope). When Hurricane Charley hit in 2004, I was 7 months pregnant, and we weathered that storm in our Sarasota home without much impact while our friends in Charlotte County took the brutal brunt of that storm. This time, when the winds started whipping and huge oak trees came down by the dozens all around us with thundering booms, and the neighbors’ houses across the street just disappeared out of sight as swirling winds and torrential downpours became all we could see, we knew this experience, though not good, would be one of a lifetime.
When the teens finally woke up, the hurricane was roaring at us from all angles. My husband and I had grown used to the creaks and groans and eventual banging as big oak limbs beat our roof up for hours. And the teens seemed unfazed by the situation at hand. Hungry from their long slumber, their first stop before checking the weather was the refrigerator where the first of nine million “Close the door” commands echoed from their father and me. We all sat in the living room wondering if the roof would hold, the water would stay out, the walls would stay up, and how this was all going to shake out. We kept the dogs calm with lots of cuddles and doggie CBD oil and kept each other as calm as we could. Though hurricane panels were up we could peek at downed fences out the back. Out the front we watched the water flow down the debris-filled road, and we wondered how people on the coast or in mobile homes were surviving and our hearts just sank knowing that many had it far worse than us.
The next morning brought visions of destruction I’ve never witnessed before. People in our immediate neighborhood walked around in a zombie state not sure of what they were seeing. We faired without any loss of life, injuries, sustained no flooding and are able to keep our home and carry on. We need a new roof, the water system is fried, the fence and lanai are toast, and yet, we are among the lucky. That people suffered the loss of family members or their homes and businesses during this beastly hurricane is immeasurably sad. And yet out of this, utterings of “Florida Strong” began to echo as people dug deep to help each other out.
The humanity and love that followed Ian’s exit have been inspiring to say the least. In small ways we were able to help out people in our neighborhood with supplies and food. But it was really insignificant in comparison to local organizations and residents who banded together to provide meaningful supplies and support people they don’t even know. It’s just been heartwarming to witness this kindness bestowed after such a wicked experience. Neighbors cooking for strangers, people volunteering to clear downed trees for others and tarp roofs, sharing supplies and giving freely of their possessions to those who lost everything have become the norm. We always want this feeling of kinship and “loving thy neighbor” to last beyond the event which drove us to want to be better humans. What I find unique about surviving Hurricane Ian is all of us in this area shared a traumatic experience in which we felt the life-shaking strength of mother nature. We all have had different outcomes, and for those experiencing pain and helplessness, our hearts are with you. Surviving a category with the magnitude of Ian is no small feat and we Floridians now share this commonality. In feeling so small in the face of Ian, we also found our strength in numbers in coming together as a compassionate community. Better together and Florida strong will be our mantra for years to come as we recover from Hurricane Ian.
Photos courtesy of Sarasota County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page.