CAPE CORAL, Fla. — It was something that most people dream of doing for years. The kids graduate high school, move out of the house, and the parents are free to head south for a daily dose of "fun in the sun" by moving to Florida.
That's just what the Dawsons did in April of 2022, moving from the west side of Cleveland to Cape Coral, Florida. Rob Dawson said about the decision, "We weren't sure where we were gonna move in Florida, but we wanted, we knew we wanted the Southwest Florida on the coast. So we ended up here in Cape Coral."
Of course, when you move near the Gulf, you know Hurricanes are going to become a possibility. Unfortunately for the Dawsons, it was only around 5 months before Hurricane Ian would form and bring major tropical impacts right to their new home.
Rob said about the storm, "After Ian, uh, things really went downhill for us. Our house got damaged extremely badly. We fought insurance for over a year before we finally got a little bit of money. So we were already in a little bit of trouble at that point."
Things did get better after Ian, but while 2023 went by without a major impact, Helene and Milton have changed things here in 2024. Rob and his family learned from what they experienced during Ian, and this time decided not to ride out the storm at home.
Rob said about Ian, "You know, the neighbors were all staying, so we decided to stay, which, uh, you know, looking back, I wish we wouldn't have. It was very scary. We were kind of buttoned up in our master closet for about six hours because Ian kind of sat on top of us all day."
He continued, "So I told my wife the next time we have, you know, a major hurricane like this, we're, we're evacuating."
The video above showed the impact form Hurricane Ian in 2022, which brought around 3 to 6 feet of storm surge into Rob's community. Hurricane Milton is expected to bring 10 to 15 feet in some spots. Rob is hoping they are spared the worst from this storm.
He added, "We hope that we don't have as much damage as we had last time, but I mean, we had 6 foot surge last time and I, you know, I sent you the video, we're expecting double that this time, so you can see where that might go."
He continued, "That's kind of where we're at and we're just, we're just hunkered down at the hotel and kind of waiting and praying at this point."
While the storms weren't the only factor, the Dawsons have already made the decision to return from Florida back home to Ohio. When asked about what putting these kinds of storms in the rearview mirror would feel like, Rob said the following.
"Yeah, it's gonna be great. I mean, like I said, I was a lifelong Ohio resident, so I'm used to snowstorms, and blizzards, and even the occasional, you know, threat of a tornado. But, um, you know, for 2.5 years we've either been worried about hurricanes, fighting with insurance companies, or dealing with hurricanes pretty much on a daily basis, and it just, it takes a toll on you, you know, especially if you're not from here."
Rob says that Milton is kind of their farewell storm, and while his family and many in Florida are now hunkered down as the hurricane moves through, he concluded with the following.
"Floridians are strong and, uh, you know, just keep everybody in your prayers."
-- Meteorologist Michael Behrens
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