Indianapolis native Angie Barnes said Hurricane Ian is the fourth hurricane she’s stood up against since moving to Florida six years ago.
”Preparing for a hurricane is like being stalked by a turtle,” she said. ”I started prepping on Friday: going to Costco, getting the waters, the food, the non-perishables, using up as much food as we have in the freezer just in case we do lose power we’re not losing all of that food.”
The winds had kicked up to 45 mph when we talked with Angie late this morning before she anticipated losing cell phone service and electricity in Bradenton, Florida.
”They’re expecting this to pretty much be about 36 hours once it comes on land and that’s just wind, wind, wind, rain, and that is when you are hunkering down,” she said. “You just stay away from the windows. God forbid anything should be coming through.”
About 60 miles south of where Barnes and her family will be barricaded in a second floor bedroom with a mattress up against the windows, Lori Shearer of Brownsburg will be cranking up the generator on her Port Charlotte home after the power went out during our phone interview.
”Our generator is large enough that we can run our refrigerators, our air conditioner and our freezer and lights, of course,” she said. ”We’ve got plenty of water. We’ve got plenty of food and ways to cook it. You need to think ahead like that. If you have a grill or something, keep that close because when the rain quits, then you can start cooking.
”They’re predicting about an 18-foot storm surge for where we’re at and about 155 mile-per-hour winds,” said Shearer as she watched video of the approaching hurricane drawing water out of Charlotte Harbor. ”When it pulls the water out like that and the storm shifts, it pushes that water back in and then that’s what the surge becomes.”
Shearer said preparing for a hurricane is a little like getting ready for an Indiana tornado: bringing in the lawn furniture and staying away from the windows, then waiting for the calm after the storm.
”When it subsides a little bit, we actually also have a handyman business so we’ll be going out helping out other people that need it, need contractors to help clean up and protect what’s left of their belongings if there’s any tree damage.”