Has anyone heard from Floridians closest to where Ian's eye made landfall?

[Dazed0N0Confused]

I haven't been able to get a hold of my Aunt (52), her daughter (30), or her two grandkids (14/6) in over 12hrs. They were incredibly close to where Ian's eye made landfall. Many Floridians are saying they were not adequately warned about Ian & the destruction that it would cause.

[OlderAndWiser]

Any Floridian who makes that claim is a damned liar, or they have been living with their head in the sand. I'm in Florida and we always have plenty of warning about hurricanes; this is one thing that the federal government does well. Many people ignore the warnings until it is too late and then look for someone else to blame.

[Dazed0N0Confused]

I'm just going off a report I read this morning, but I agree that people don't want to listen to scientists & meteorologists & then bellyache when they realize they were idiots for not listening.

[OlderAndWiser]

I've lived in Florida my entire life - 67 years - so I KNOW what kind of warnings we get.

[Dazed0N0Confused]

I believe you, I just don't understand... My cousin & aunt are about 5 miles from Cape Coral, where they eye hit. They had the means to take the kids away... I'm fearful those kids are in trouble because the adults that take care of them didn't listen to warnings, thinking they could just drink the hurricane away...

[OlderAndWiser]

Yes, there is certainly the potential for tragedy. You can contact the Red Cross for assistance in locating them.

[Jerre]

My sister and 3 married daughters lives in Ft Myers. They said it was a living nightmare. Many cell phone towers are down so very difficult to make contact. I think all Floridians were adequately warned, but nobody expected the intensity, huge rainfall, flooding that occurred. Right now Wx people are calling it a once in 500 year, yes 500 years, storm.

[MrOracle]

The meteorologists certainly expected the intensity, huge rainfall, and flooding, because I've been hearing about it for more than a week now, and I'm across the country in California.

What you meant to say is that "many people didn't take the warnings seriously", which is the truth, but also a VERY different statement.

[jennifer_bloom]

I would not panic yet. They might be perfectly fine but unable to arrange phone calls due to broke power lines or damaged electronics and even if they were part of the hurricane, damaged property is more common than injured people. Get your friends to pray with you but I think it’s not a known emergency right now.

[BlacklightShade]

I'm waiting to hear back from relatives south of Tampa which the mayor said has no power right now. The place they bought was new and part of a big neighborhood built to withstand severe weather.

[Wise4myage]

Its going to take a few days but hopefully less, so try to be patient.

[Dazed0N0Confused]

Agreed

[NathanDavis]

it should take a couple of days or so... for the lines to work somewhat, again

now, if you're a Floridian that doesn't know about hurricanes... then I don't believe you're a Floridian at all... lol

[eagle1951]

thank goodness everyone i know is up here