SARASOTA, Fla. — As Hurricane Ian rips through Florida communities, 2 News Oklahoma checked in on residents living in the area.
Jan Ayer, a Sarasota resident, is hunkering down in an elevated condo with her boyfriend, David, and four dogs. But it's her ranch 10 miles inland with upwards of 400 cows that is causing some concern.
As of Wednesday, Ayer said her condo was not in an evacuation zone. However, there was a ton of rain and high winds throughout the day. Ayer said she plans to ride out the storm with sandbags by her front door and plenty of non-perishable food items bought three days in advance.
She said the cows back at her second home on a ranch could be up to their knees in water by the time the storm is over but believes they will get to high ground.
“They’ll literally just get into the woods. The woods are thick," Ayer said.
But it’s their one blind cow, Daisy, Who just had a baby, Lily, they’re keeping an eye on through a sky camera.
“We’re just concerned that a tree will fall and it will knock the fence down, and there’s ponds around there," Ayer said.
Ayer says she plans to go down to the ranch and check on them once the winds calm down.
A little bit north in Punta Gorda, Lynda Benson says she's already prepped snacks and clothes incases flood water comes into her home and she has to go upstairs.
Benson says her lights and TV were flickering at about 11:30 EST, and officially went out for good by 2 p.m. She says that's when the eye-wall came through. Through it all, she says preparing for the storm has been the hardest part.
"Waiting to see what part of the winds are going to catch and what it's going to do with the surge can be stressful," Benson said. "I likened it to a tornado - a siren goes off and you know what you got, but with this, you got a long wait and stress until it happens."
Benson says she is de-stressing a little bit knowing they have hurricane-proof glass in their home so windows can sustain the winds. She said they've also installed doors that open from the outside so they don't blow in.
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