Florida man man says he regrets riding out hurricane

REST OF THE WORK WEEK, WHEN I SEE YOU COMING UP AT 4:18. JIM: TURNING OUT A SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, WHICH HAS EXPERIENCED THE WORST OF THE STORM. SUMMER: WHAT ARE PEOPLE TELLING YOU WHAT THEY ARE COMING HOME, DANICA? THERE’S NOT MUCH FOR THEM TO COME HOME TO. REPORTER: THAT IS THE CASE FOR A LOT OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. BUT THE BRIDGE BEHIND ME OFFICIALLY SHUT DOWN YESTERDAY. ONLY FIRST RESPONDERS ARE ALLOWED THROUGH. THAT MEANS THE RESIDENCE WERE ALSO NOT ALLOWED TO GET ACROSS A BRIDGE TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED AT FORT MYERS BEACH. WE SPOKE TO RESIDENTS WE DECIDED TO WRITE OUT THE STORM -- RIDE OUT THE STORM. WE CAUGHT UP WITH A FEW. >> COME ON IN, GUYS. REPORTER: IT’S BEEN FIVE DAYS SINCE HURRICANE IAN. AND DENNIS SAYS HIS HOME DAMAGE COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE. >> THEY ARE ALL GOING TO HAVE TO BE PULLED UP. REPORTER: THE FLOORS HAVE BUBBLED UNDER THE 3 INCHES OF RAINWATER, BUT MOST OF THE INTERIOR IS INTACT. DENNIS SAYS HE AND HIS MOTHER DECIDED LAST MINUTE TO RETURN TO THEIR HOME AFTER EVACUATING AND RIDE OUT THE STORM. >> MY MOM IS LIKE, I HAVE GOT A LOT OF STUFF IN THE LANAI I WOULD LIKE TO SAVE, SO I SAID LET’S GO. SO WE WERE DRIVING 41 BACK, WE WERE DODGING TREES. REPORTER: SO YOU HAD A HOTEL AND DECIDED TO COME BACK TO YOUR HOUSE? >> YEAH. BIG MISTAKE, BIG MISTAKE. IT’S COMPLETELY GONE. REPORTER: DENNIS SAYS HE WATCHED AS HIS BACK LANAI WAS TORN OFF, HIS WINDOWS SHATTERED, AND A PIECE OF HIS NEIGHBOR’S ROOF FROM TWO DOORS DOWN SLAMMED INTO HIS BEDROOM WALL. >> THIS SLIDING GLASS DOOR STARTED BOWING. IT WAS 6 TO 8 INCHES, AND I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BREAK. I THOUGHT, IF THAT DOOR BREAKS, EVERYTHING IN THE HOUSE IS GONE, SO I JUST GRABBED EACH SIDE OF THE DOOR AND I JUST PUT ALL MY WEIGHT AGAINST IT. I STOOD THERE FOR ALMOST 2 HOURS. REPORTER: BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL DAMAGE TO HIS HOME AND THE EMOTIONAL DRAIN, IT IS A HURRICANE EXPERIENCE HE HAS NO INTENTION OF REPEATING. >> YOU KNOW, THE FREIGHT TRAINS YOU HEAR ABOUT WITH THE TORNADOES, THIS WAS MORE OF A WHISTLE, VERY HIGH, CONSTANT WHISTLE. JUST CRAZY, NONSTOP FOR HOURS. REPORTER: BUT SOME GOOD NEWS BEFORE THE DAY’S END. JUST AS HE WAS SHOWING US THE DAMAGE TO A BEDROOM CLOSET. >> OH, YOU’RE MY GOOD LUCK CHARM. THE POWER IS ON. WE GOT POWER. I JUST SAW POWER. I WAS POINTING AT THE CLOSETS. I LOVE IT. REPORTER: AND IT WAS AN IMMEDIATE RUN OUTSIDE TO TELL HIS MOTHER AND NEIGHBOR THE GOOD NEWS. >> GO ON THE HOUSE AND TURN THE AIR ON, THE POWER IS ON. >> ARE YOU KIDDING ME? WOO-HOO! NOW I’M HAPPY. >> WE CAN HAVE MARGARITAS TODAY! WOO-HOO! REPORTER: DESPITE ALL THE DESTRUCTION, IT IS NICE TO SEE THOSE KINDS OF MOMENTS. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT WE ARE SEEING POWER CREWS PRETTY MUCH EVERYWHERE. HOPEFULLY THE ROAD TO RECOVERY IS A LITTLE BIT BETTER. THAT WILL NOT BE THE CASE FOR THE FORT MYERS BEACH AREA. IT SEEMS LIKE THEY HAVE NOT EVEN GOTTEN TO THE PHASE OF CLEANING OUT SOME OF THE DEBRIS FROM THE ROADWAYS. SO HERE START IN LATE, IT IS GOING TO BE A WHILE. JIM: LOVE THAT, WHEN THE POWER CAME BACK ON. BEFORE YOU GO, A LOT OF CHATTER IN THESE PARTS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND ONE OF THE LOCAL COUNTIES WHERE YOU ARE GAY PEOPLE ENOUGH TIME TO GET OUT OF HARM’S WAY, AN ISSUE OF THE EVACUATION ORDERS, IS THAT TOP OF MIND FOR PEOPLE THEY ARE OR ARE THEY JUST WORRIED ABOUT THE NEXT MEAL? REPORTER: THAT’S ONE OF THE BIGGEST CONCERNS. WE DID ACTUALLY SPEAK TO A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO DECIDED TO WRITE OUT THE STORM. I ASKED IF YOU HAD THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND YOU WERE LISTENING TO OFFICIALS, WHAT WAS THE DECISION TO STAY? MOST OF THE PEOPLE THAT I SPOKE TO TOLD ME THAT THEY THOUGHT THEY WOULD BE OK, HAD WRITTEN OUT -- ROIDDEN OUT POWERFUL STORMS BEFORE, NOTHING COMPARED TO THIS, THEY SAID THEY THOUGHT THEY COULD HANDLE THIS. OBVIOUSLY AT THIS POINT NOW, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE TOLD ME THEY REGRET IT. SUMMER: HAVE YOU BEEN SEEING MEMORIALS? WHO HAVE BEEN REPORTING THE DEATH TOLL GOING UP. IS THAT ANYWHERE ON THEIR RADAR RIGHT NOW? OR IS THAT GOING TO BE LATER? REPORTER: WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW, SUMMER, THEY ARE JUST TRYING TO SORT THROUGH THE DESTRUCTION. I DON’T EVEN THINK THEY HAVE GOTTEN SO FAR. THE PEOPLE RIGHT NOW THAT ARE COMING OFF OF THIS BRIDGE FROM FORT MYERS BEACH, BECAUSE THERE ARE SOME COMING OVER THE BRIDGE, AS FAR AS RESCUE CREWS, FIRST RESPONDERS, THEY’VE BEEN IN A BUBBLE FOR DAYS. THEY DON’T KNOW ANYTHING BEYOND HOW THEY SURVIVED ON THAT ISLAND FOR THE PAST FEW DAYS. WE WILL CERTAINLY HAVE MORE ON THAT IN OUR EVENING NEWSCAST. I DON’T EVEN THINK ANYONE HERE IS STARTING TO PROCESS WHAT IS HAPPENING OUTSIDE OF WHAT THEY HAVE PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS. IT’S BEEN JUST SURVIVAL. JIM: THANK YOU FOR SHARING THAT MOMENT OF JOY, WE WISH THE BEST

Fort Myers man says deciding to ride out Hurricane Ian was 'big mistake' he won't make again

Updated: 8:02 PM EDT Oct 3, 2022

Some residents in southwest Florida decided to ride out Hurricane Ian instead of evacuating.Dennis, a Fort Myers man who did not want to use his last name, said he and his mother decided last minute to return to their home after evacuating and ride out the storm."My mom said, 'I have a lot of stuff in the lanai, I'd like to stay,' so I said 'alright, let's go. So we were driving back, we were dodging trees... Big mistake, big mistake," he said. Watch the full story in the video player above. He said his home's damage could've been worse."They're all going to have to be pulled up," he said in reference to the floors.The floors have bubbled under the three inches of rainwater. But most of the interior is intact. Dennis says he watched as his back lanai was torn off, his windows shattered and a piece of his neighbor's roof from two doors down slammed into his bedroom wall."This sliding glass door started bowing. It was six to eight inches and I knew it was going to break," he said. "So I grabbed each side of the door and I just put all my weight against it. I stood there for almost two hours." Between the physical damage to his home and the emotional drain, it's a hurricane experience he has no intention of repeating."You know the freight trains you hear about with the tornados. This was more of a whistle, very high, constant whistle. Just crazy, nonstop for hours," he recalled. "It was frightening. It was frightening. I'll never make that decision ever again."But some good news before the day's end: Just as he was showing sister station WESH the damage to a bedroom closet, the power came back."Oh, you're my good luck charm. The power is on, I just saw power," he said.He immediately ran outside to tell his mother and neighbor the good news."Go inside the house and turn the air on. The power's back," he said. "Woohoo, we can have margaritas today," the woman shouted back to him.

FORT MYERS, Fla. —

Some residents in southwest Florida decided to ride out Hurricane Ian instead of evacuating.

Dennis, a Fort Myers man who did not want to use his last name, said he and his mother decided last minute to return to their home after evacuating and ride out the storm.

"My mom said, 'I have a lot of stuff in the lanai, I'd like to stay,' so I said 'alright, let's go. So we were driving back, we were dodging trees... Big mistake, big mistake," he said.

Watch the full story in the video player above.

He said his home's damage could've been worse.

"They're all going to have to be pulled up," he said in reference to the floors.

The floors have bubbled under the three inches of rainwater. But most of the interior is intact.

Dennis says he watched as his back lanai was torn off, his windows shattered and a piece of his neighbor's roof from two doors down slammed into his bedroom wall.

"This sliding glass door started bowing. It was six to eight inches and I knew it was going to break," he said. "So I grabbed each side of the door and I just put all my weight against it. I stood there for almost two hours."

Between the physical damage to his home and the emotional drain, it's a hurricane experience he has no intention of repeating.

"You know the freight trains you hear about with the tornados. This was more of a whistle, very high, constant whistle. Just crazy, nonstop for hours," he recalled. "It was frightening. It was frightening. I'll never make that decision ever again."

But some good news before the day's end: Just as he was showing sister station WESH the damage to a bedroom closet, the power came back.

"Oh, you're my good luck charm. The power is on, I just saw power," he said.

He immediately ran outside to tell his mother and neighbor the good news.

"Go inside the house and turn the air on. The power's back," he said. "Woohoo, we can have margaritas today," the woman shouted back to him.