Hurricane Ian is sweeping through Florida and leaving many fearing the damages the storm is bringing, that includes Central New Yorkers who are there on Vacation or currently residing there.
Tracy Giannone is from Syracuse but went on Vacation to Clearwater, FL with her fiancé and two friends. She said everything was great and sunny but she was closely monitoring the weather fearful that the hurricane would hit. She then got a call from multiple family members including her Uncle that said they need to evacuate before the storm comes and before they run into traffic with the countless numbers of people trying to leave.
Giannone said, "I had to convince my fiancé and two friends that we needed to evacuate. If Uncle Dave who's lived here 40 years is saying, we need to get out we need to get out."
As a Syracuse native, she said she rather drive in the snow then the downpour of rain and intense winds they drove through to get from Clearwater to Pompano Beach, FL. However, even though they were in a different location where the weather wasn't as bad, they still were getting hit with some wind.
"We're still in danger of some tropical storms and tornado warnings but nothing, like we would've dealt with if we stayed where we were," said Giannone.
Shelly Childers and her husband moved to Safety Harbor, FL from North Syracuse and said even if they wanted to leave they couldn't because there would be no way out.
"We completely emptied everything from the backyard and the front yard is now sitting in our dining room," said Childers. "This is new. We have no idea what to expect. It's a learning experience for us. We don't have a generator; we did all go to Lowe's yesterday and they were sold out."
Now, the real question is, how are people who are in Florida for vacation getting home?
Giannone said she's hoping to get back home by Monday because she needs to go back to work but said her job would be understanding due to the circumstances she's in. Regarding her flight, she is scheduled to take a plane out of Clearwater on Monday but doesn't know if that plane will change due to the weather.
Giannone said, "Our flights are still out of Clearwater. We have a new one for Monday if it gets out so we still have to try to get back to that coast, but we don't know if we will."