On September 28, 2022 a Category 4 Hurricane named “Ian” made landfall in Punta Gorda, Florida. With 145mph winds, it was the first CAT 4 to impact Southwest Florida since Hurricane Charley in 2004.
We had full confidence in our concrete condo, armed with new category 4 hurricane sliders, so we decided to ride out the storm at home. Below is recap of that adventure.
When we first woke up on Wednesday, we checked the radar to see if Ian had shifted paths. It sure did, the eye was now heading directly toward us.
We had already prepared by filling up our gas tanks, stocking the cupboards with non-perishable foods, and filling up the tub for when we inevitably lose power.
Some last-minute hurricane hacks included:
- Dropping the air conditioning down to 60 °F so it’d be cool indoors once the power goes out (it was over 80 °F outside that morning)
- Charge all tablets, phones, and even old phones to 100%. Download Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video on each, then load them up with tv shows and movies that would last a month.
By 9am, the Florida wildlife started to get vocal, and our morning view grew gloomy.
The Hurricane Party finally kicked off at 1:30pm when we lost internet completely. Little did we know at the time, it would not return for a couple of weeks.
Still, this was a great sour beer to pass the time, while we watched Charlotte Harbor part like the Red Sea.
By 5pm, everything went calm. We were in the eye of the storm. Despite days of warnings on the news, neighbors started to go outside to look around and talk about the first leg of Hurricane Ian. And of course take photos…
Within 30 minutes, everyone was back inside for Round Two — and by 6pm, our new hurricane sliders showed signs of a manufacturing defect:
We eventually started to see floor damage both outside and in:
Towels were our only defense against water entering the condo; however, eventually the storm got so bad we decided to move into the hallway away from windows.
And then brought some drinks into the stairwell.
The storm started to slow down just after 10pm.
We spent the next few hours reliving the night, and agreed to never stay for a Category 4 Hurricane again.