SARASOTA, FLORIDA (WBEN) Ray Collins and his wife live in a townhouse in downtown Sarasota, Florida. The former Channel 4 news anchor left Buffalo in 1999 to further his media career. Now he's a media consultant and real estate agent on the Gulf Coast.
As of Wednesday morning, with Hurricane Ian barreling toward Florida's southwest coast, Collins still had power. He and his wife stocked up on food and water to ride out the storm at home. "Being from Buffalo, I'm used to weather emergencies and I probably roll the dice more than I should," he said.
Collins, whose home is in the evacuation zone, considered driving to Delray Beach on the east coast on Tuesday. But said they made the decision to stay put as the track of the hurricane shifted further south.
In terms of extra precautions, Collins parked his two cars in an area protected from the wind. He also brought in plants and patio furniture and has seen plenty of windows boarded up by local businesses.
Admitting there is a roller coaster of emotions as the storm approaches, Collins said there was a sense of relief in learning that Ian was heading further south of Sarasota, but some anxiety upon hearing that the storm was close to a Category 5.
"That's serious stuff. You don't mess with a 5," he added.
Collins is no stranger to hurricanes. He covered Hurricane Charlie in 2004 shortly after he moved to Florida in Charlotte County. He also covered Hurricane Hugo in Charleston, South Carolina; a Category 4 storm in 1989. "Normally I ride storms out as a reporter in an emergency operations center, never at home. This is a first."
Collins, both a St Joe's Collegiate Institute and St. Bonaventure University grad, lived through the Blizzard of '77 and his share of power outages. "Boy, you bundle up in Buffalo when you lose power. Down here when you lose power, it's the exact opposite."
With 2.5 million people under evacuation orders throughout the state of Florida, it remains to be seen how many did not heed the warning and chose to stay. "Hurricane fatigue is real," said Collins. "We've had so many false alarms over the years, particularly in Sarasota and Tampa. The last direct hit on this area was over 100 years ago. We tend to let our guard down too quickly.
We've lucked out in this specific area. But Charlotte County, south of here, that area is really bracing."
