I’ve been sharing some of the challenges with site admins; at their suggestion here’s the latest from the impact zone.
First things first. To establish the context, what made Ian completely different from all other hurricane recovery responses I have been involved in comes down to two issues: strength of the storm (155+ mph winds), and more importantly the duration of the event (8+ hours of peak destruction).
In normal hurricane impacts the worst affected areas generally experience 3 to 4 hours of chaos. Hurricane Ian was unique in that it was only moving 8 to 10 mph and that made the storm damage completely different. Structures that survived the first half, completely failed during the second half of the storm.
Almost nothing survived unscathed after 8 to 9 hours of that strength of storm sitting, almost stationary, in one place; nor was anything ever designed to withstand that duration of storm with winds from the South, then East, then West as Ian meandered inland from the gulf toward the north northeast.
After this storm, and having been through four previous direct impacts, including Homestead AFB, I would say this…. If there is even a remote chance you would ever encounter this type of a hurricane event, EVACUATE. Do not try and hunker down if there is a looming possibility of having to rely on a structure to withstand 150+ mph wind for a full day. Just leave. With all of my preparations in place, and all of the knowledge I possess in storm survival, I would never attempt that again.
That said, I will put a better word image together at a later date to share, along with specific recommendations learned as an outcome of this event. In the interim, just accept my most strenuous advice. If this specific type of storm was ever predicted to come near you, GET OUT.
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