I’m sitting on a TV set right now. I’ll be here for six hours today. It’s not heavy lifting. The meteorologists are doing that. I’m just sitting here to keep the commercials from running into each other.
Hurricane Ian surprised everybody yesterday. It turned. Instead of coming straight up Tampa Bay, it’s going into the Fort Myers area.
If you are an old timer around here, you remember this is what Hurricane Charley did in 2004. That storm was also supposed to come to the Tampa Bay area. Just like Ian, it turned and hit Southwest Florida. It was devastating.
While this storm looks a lot like Charley in its path, our meteorologists say there are some differences. Ian is bigger. A lot bigger.
I remember that Charley did nothing to Tampa. Nothing. All those folks that evacuated to Orlando got hit hard.
This time, we are going to get wind. Lots of it. Rain. Lots of it.
I can handle both. I’m just thankful I’m not in Southwest Florida. Those poor people are about to go through what they experienced in 2004.
I remember going down there after that storm. The trees that were still standing were stripped. I fear that again.
It’s Florida. It’s paradise. Every now and then, something like this happens. Unfortunately, it’s happening in the same place as before.
The Governor just held a briefing. It’s pretty amazing how “ready” we seem to be for this thing. A massive mobilization in place for the aftermath. Governor DeSantis also warned of “nasty days ahead.”
This is likely to be a category 5 hurricane by the time it makes landfall. Extremely destructive.
Where I am, Tampa, it’s going to be about rain. Lots of it. Flooding. If that’s as bad as it gets here, I can handle it. I’m locked into this TV staying until this is over.
And this will be over.