Oh…. Poseidon-Greek god of the sea, and Zephyrus- Greek god of the winds…where were you when Hurricane Ian ravaged Southwest Florida? They truly needed you. If you haven’t heard the news about Hurricane Ian, where have you been? Hurricane Ian is the top #1 news story and probably will be for quite some time. Hurricane Ian hit Florida’s west coast early Wednesday, September 28th just after 3 p.m. The hurricane was a category 4. A category 4 hurricane is very major. Most damage occurs when a hurricane is a category 4 or 5.  This also means the hurricane is picking up wind speed at 130-156 mph. By 7 p.m. on Wednesday night,  the winds had been downgraded to 125 mph, making this a category 3, but that’s still very severe. Over 520,000 Florida homes and businesses were out of electricity.  According to ABC News,  at least 119 people have been reported dead by the hurricane. More than two million had been rescued from Hurricane Ian. 

Any one of us who loves going to those areas of the country, especially Florida or where hurricanes hit, needs to know this little lesson on them. A hurricane is a large rotating storm with high speed winds that form over warm waters in tropical areas.  In fact, the waters in Florida were actually 89 degrees when Ian hit. That’s like bath water. Incredible Right?  Did you know the center of a hurricane is an eye? The eye is actually the safest part of the hurricane. That’s the big circle you see on radar.  It is sometimes even referred to as halftime because the eye is the calm before the storm (Those would be the band swirling around it. )  Now the eye wall around the eye is the most dangerous part. Eventually everyone in its path will experience “the hurricane wall”, and the damage and devastation begins and ends there.

Many of us take for granted that living in paradise has its dangers. But how many of us go to Florida on vacation or even want to live there at some time. Two of Mrs. Ciminero’s relatives (on her husband’s side) lost EVERYTHING! She says, “ I look at my pictures from last Christmas and I get teary-eyed. We went on that pier that’s now destroyed, and we went to eat at restaurants that are now nothing but rubble.” Mrs. Ciminero’s aunt is now living in a hotel until she can figure out where she is going and if she wants to even rebuild. “I’m sure so many people think they will because how can this happen again and so soon. But rebuilding is going to take years,” she says. 

         Whether they were affected directly by it, or we just are spectators who saw this tragedy unfold, it was utterly mortifying.  According to Hurricane Ian: Fast Facts – Learn – GlobalGiving, Hurricane Ian was one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the United States and  sadly there wasn’t one thing anyone could do to prepare for it or hide from it. Let’s hope next time there’s a hurricane brewing, Poseidon-Greek god of the sea, and Zephyrus- Greek god of the wind will intervene and save us all from such devastation and heartache.