'This one feels scary': Sarasota and Manatee residents brace for direct hit from Hurricane Ian
They thought about leaving as the forecast worsened, but by Tuesday morning Dr. Andrew and Pam Trapani were resigned to riding out Hurricane Ian in their Siesta Key home overlooking Big Pass.
"I'm thinking we should have been gone, but we're hunkering down," said Andrew Trapani as he walked Wrigley, his miniature Australian shepherd dog, down Lands End Lane.
It always felt like the region was protected from big storms, that hurricanes "can't touch Sarasota. We always get missed," Trapani said.
This one feels different.
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Yet by the time the Trapanis considered evacuating, they couldn't find a hotel. They decided their house -- built in 2017 at 17 feet of elevation with hurricane-resistant windows and a whole-house generator -- was safe enough. It sits on 55 pilings driven 35 feet into the ground, with a bottom floor designed for flood water to wash through.
As Hurricane Ian rolls in, the Trapanis will have a blockbuster view through their giant glass sliding doors that look out onto Big Pass, Bird Key and downtown Sarasota. They're confident the house will hold up, but Trapani said "this one feels scary" nonetheless.
"I'm not much of a drinker but I'll probably have a few scotches the next few days," joked Trapani, a retired orthodontist from the Chicago area.
The Trapanis were making last-minute preparations Tuesday -- securing anxiety medication for Wrigley and pulling in their pool deck furniture -- and much of Florida's Gulf Coast was doing the same, as Ian passed over Cuba and entered the Gulf of Mexico as a dangerous Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph.
More strengthening was forecast Tuesday, with Ian's winds expected to start impacting Sarasota and Manatee counties early Wednesday.
Ian may be the hurricane that many on the West Coast of Florida have long feared, with devastating storm surge possible from Fort Myers to north of the Tampa Bay area. The potential surge for this area was forecast at 8 to 12 feet.
Sarasota and Manatee counties long have escaped major hurricane impacts, but the most likely path of Ian's center was pointed right at the Sarasota/Manatee region Tuesday, with landfall predicted around Venice.
Significastorm surge was forecast for coastal areas from Tampa Bay to Charlotte Harbor, a wall of water topped by waves that could cause massive flooding and property damage. Heavy rainfall forecast at as much as 10 to 15 inches could flood interior parts of the region.
State and local authorities were urging everyone along the Gulf Coast to take Ian seriously Tuesday and speed to completion storm preparations. More evacuations were ordered along the coast -- including on the barrier islands and other low-lying parts of Sarasota and Manatee counties -- and storm shelters began filling up.
Both Sarasota and Manatee counties have mandatory evacuation orders for Zone A and B properties, and Manatee recommend those living in a C Zone leave as well.
“This is worst-case scenario,” said Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes. “Those along the coast and prone to flooding need to take this seriously and evacuate.”
The shelter at Braden River High School can accommodate 3,300 people but only about 10 were there shortly after it opened at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Among them was Nancy Knowles, who moved from New Jersey to Bradenton and lived in an RV park designated Zone A.
Ian is Knowles' first hurricane in the area, but she said she was not nervous. She had her dog Molly as company.
Katie Dalton, 62, said it’s not her first time evacuating to Braden River High. She lives in an RV park right down the road. She tried to get a hotel for four days with no luck and instead ended up at the shelter with her husband, mother and Jack Russell Terrier/Yorkie dog mix Ana.
Much of the region began shutting down Tuesday, with schools closed and many businesses closing. The Sarasota Bradenton International Airport remained open Tuesday morning but was scheduled to close at 8 p.m. and the terminal set to be locked and secured.
Residents were bracing for the worst after years of good luck.
Andrew Trapani looked out over the waters of Big Pass from his kitchen Tuesday morning, a cup of coffee in hand. He noted that water had never come up past the lawn below his pool deck in five years of living at the house.
The ground floor of Trapani's house is a garage with three cars. He worried they would be destroyed. He was more confidant about the overall structure standing firm.
"I'm not worried about the house, this house is built like a fortress," he said.
All of Siesta Key is in Zone A, meaning it was under a mandatory evacuation order. Water was shutoff to Siesta.
Trapani wonders about access on and off the island, noting "they always threaten to put the bridges up."
"It just has a funny feeling that if you want to get off the island you can't," he said.
Follow Herald-Tribune Political Editor Zac Anderson on Twitter at @zacjanderson. He can be reached at zac.anderson@heraldtribune.com
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Hurricane Ian currently forecast for a direct hit on Sarasota region
