Unreported Risk
Wind & Water NOT the Only Dangers Tied to Hurricane Ian
Evacuation was almost as deadly. We were Nearly Killed!
Evacuation
We evacuated from central Florida for IAN on Monday, two days early with a simple 4 1/2-hour drive north to Macon, Ga, which we had made many times. We left at 11:00 am and arrived after 6:00 pm, lucky to be alive.
Shortly before noon, all traffic on interstate 75 stopped. For an hour and a half, all three lanes slowly crept forward following the normal rule of lines:
The line you are in is stopped The one next to you moves
It wasn’t quite that bad. We passed a huge open truck three times piled high with rubbish. The sides were probably 9 feet tall.
After about an hour of creeping along, a traffic sign announced an accident that closed the right 2 lanes. Finally, we went back to 70 mph after passing the accident site. The truck was well ahead of us by that time.
Disaster
We slowly caught up with the truck in the center lane. I planned to pass it on the left. Just as we got close, a 4x8 foot sheet of particle board came loose and floated backward toward us, like a leaf tumbling on the wind.
I prayed that the sheet would not hit the windshield. If it didn’t kill us, the wreck at 70 mph probably would. I quickly slowed and swerved to the left. The board dropped just in front of us and shattered into many pieces as I ran over it. The car behind me hit it while it was still moving.
Fortunately, it didn’t do major damage that would cause us to stop immediately, like a flat tire or mechanical problems. We stopped a few miles later for lunch and I saw exactly where it hit.
Hit right front below the headlight. It tore apart a small section at the very bottom of the body. Irritating, but not enough to prevent further travel. I suspect that the difference between hitting there and hitting the hood and windshield was my quick reaction and the amount I braked. That saved us.
You always have to be alert.
After the hurricane
We decided to return on Friday morning, two days after the hurricane. People in our neighborhood messaged that it passed south of The Villages and our house showed no damage.
Traffic was light on I75, as expected when traveling through the countryside on a weekday. We expected to arrive home about 4:00 pm. As we approached Ocala, about 30 miles north of The Villages, traffic slowed down and stopped. Just like Monday.
This time, we were able to check the situation on the cell phone while it made a difference. It was another accident with an 18-mile backup and at least an hour’s delay. We got off at the next exit, 2 exits before normal.
Neither exit takes us directly to The Villages but to highway US 441 which goes through the towns and has lower and variable speed limits. With the earlier exit, we had to drive through part of Ocala.
There were no other events and we got home about 10 minutes later than normal expectations. We probably would have arrived an hour or more later if we had stayed on the interstate.
Home
The house and power were intact. There was no flooding or significant damage in our general area. We got home early enough to mostly unpack and make it to City Fire for our 6:00 pm reservation for dinner and dancing.
Of all of the trips we made on I75 to Macon to visit relatives over the years, we had never seen an accident until hurricane Ian.
References
- Predictions were all over the place. No reason for us to stay.
- Other hurricane experience while living in Florida
