Surviving the Storm
Hurricane Ian hit Fort Myers, FL on September 28, 2022. I was raised in Houston, TX and went through several hurricanes, so I didn’t hesitate to stay in my condo here in Fort Myers.
Moving from Springfield, MO which is in Tornado Alley, I also survived several close calls with tornadoes.
Both of those factors came into play when I made my decision to stay. I was in the cone, yes. I was in the flood zone, yes. I was also very arrogant to think I was special and would not be affected.
My condo did not sustain any damage. The roof on the building did, but I’m on the bottom floor. You would think, okay, then all is good. But, living through a EF 3 Tornado for hours on end, which is what they classified it as, that will take a mental toll on anyone.
My storm shutters shook non-stop. The sliding glass doors on my lanai tried to jump off the rails there was so much pressure from the storm. Building fire alarms went off non-stop for hours on end until my neighbor figured out how to disconnect the wires inside the condos.
It’s been a year now and PTSD is finally starting to right itself. The city is still cleaning up; still many buildings with no roofs; insurance companies are not paying for what they said they would; still some corners with no stop signs; street signs with street names are still gone or pointing in weird directions.
BUT – where the mangroves got killed, where the trees were blown away, there is life starting to appear.