Local Senator’s Son Prepares to Ride Out Hurricane Ian

(KNSI) — A local area senator’s son is bracing for impact as Hurricane Ian churns toward Florida’s gulf coast.

Sam Howe, son of Rockville area Senator Jeff Howe, lives with his wife and children in the Tampa area and is preparing, for now, to ride it out.

“So yesterday, I spent the majority of the time taking everything from outside putting in the garage. Just getting all the potential debris stored away as best as I can. And then I got 15 gallons of water, some bottled water, some snacks and fuel for the generator, some oil for it. And right now I’m kind of playing it by ear, since the storm continuously moves, day by day, hour by hour. So we are currently right now we’re gonna stay here we are in Zone A. But if need be, we do have a relative that is five miles on the road that is in a completely different zone. So it’ll be a lot safer there.” He says that zone is a higher elevation by a few hundred feet. Further inland is higher yet and has space to accommodate people from the lower lying areas.

Zone A is where storm surge is expected to be anywhere from five to ten feet. Howe says he has a channel that leads to old Tampa Bay roughly 250 yards behind his back fence. He says if the surge comes through the bay and old Tampa Bay, “that’s where there’s a lot of concern right now is the flooding from the storm.”

The National Hurricane Center is issuing a storm surge warning on Florida’s Gulf Coast ahead of Hurricane Ian. A new bulletin warns of catastrophic storm surge, winds and flooding in the Florida peninsula.

His wife works in a care facility that will take on residents from areas in other zones which could be more heavily impacted. He says she would likely stay there to care for and treat patients.

Schools and daycares stayed open later Monday and Tuesday for parents to make final preparations, but he says schools and the daycare where his daughter goes are closed.

As of 8:00 a.m. Central time, Hurricane Ian was still a Category 4 storm, packing sustained winds of 155 miles an hour. That’s just two miles an hour under Category 5 strength.

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