INDIANAPOLIS — As Hurricane Ian bears down on Florida, many there are preparing to ride out the storm while even more have made their way inland.
Two former lifelong Hoosiers spoke to FOX59 about how they’re preparing to endure the hurricane.
”It’s getting scarier and scarier as we speak,” said Jim Atterholt, a former Hoosier and now current Fort Myers resident.
”The rains increased, it’s definitely picked up the pace, the winds are increasing,” said Christine Ressino, another Indy to Fort Myers transplant.
Ressino and Atterholt are both riding out Hurricane Ian.
”The biggest thing is just to be prepared,” Ressino said. “I’ve got lots of ice and water and I have all the pet food and medications I need.”
Ressino moved from Indy to Fort Myers just three weeks ago, this is her introduction to her dream home.
”I’m just going to have to roll with the punches at this point,” Ressino said.
Her and her neighbors are using a buddy system to help each other during the storm.
”We’ll just all keep in touch and hope for the best, I guess,” she said.
Atterholt has been in Fort Myers for a few years. He’s riding the storm out from his ninth floor condo right on the beach.
”We have hurricanes windows but we have towels everywhere, we have tarps in case a window would fail,” Atterholt said.
During our interview, an emergency alert went off on Atterholt’s phone, letting everyone in the region know another area of people should evacuate.
”As the storm gets more and more intense, they list additional zones that you need to evacuate,” Atterholt said. “They’re encouraging you to evacuate and those horns go off.”
As of Tuesday evening, the path of Hurricane Ian has shifted, taking a more easterly path toward Fort Myers and southwest Florida.
”There are so many variables that go into this because you just don’t know,” Atterholt said. “The storm is always evolving, it’s changing, it’s changing direction.”
Both are planning to begin hunkering down Tuesday night for the storm to come and the days ahead.
”They said Thursday and Friday would be nothing but cleanup,” Ressino said.
Atterholt is expecting the aftermath of the storm to be filled with problems.
”The heat, the other challenges, the flooding, the mold, the lack of power,” he said.
Each of them hopeful they are prepared for the unpredictable impacts of this hurricane.
”Who knows at this point, who knows what’s going to happen, who knows what type of devastation it’ll have,” Ressino said.
