Rebecca Cahajla grew up in the Cayman Islands, and went through the trauma of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 like so many other islanders.
Now, 18 years later, she is a new homeowner in Spring Hill, about an hour’s drive north of Tampa, and right in the path of Hurricane Ian – forecast to become a life-threatening storm when it hits Florida.
With the previous experience of Ivan under her belt, Cahajla knew not to take any chances.
As the storm was buffeting Cayman on Monday, she packed her family into the car and drove to a hotel in Orlando, well ahead of evacuation orders from the government.
“I can’t hear those winds again,” Cahajla said, remembering the screaming sounds of relentless Category 5-strength winds pounding the house where they sheltered off South Church Street all those years ago.
“At some points through Ivan, we could actually see the roof ‘breathing’,” she recalled, adding that at that time, everyone was told not to open any doors. The change in pressure could have taken the roof off the house.
In Ian’s path
It has been a particularly hard decision for Cahajla (family name Duquesnay) to leave her home in Spring Hill behind, as she only officially bought it at the end of May.
“My house is brand new, it is up to hurricane standard, and all of my windows are hurricane-[rated] to Category 3. However, my most vulnerable entry point is my back sliding glass door,” she said.
Even once she had made the commitment to get out, it wasn’t that simple. Her mother, son Sebastian, the cat and the dog were all ready to go, and then the car wouldn’t start. With AAA saying it could only get to her in three hours, she and her family went door-to-door to her neighbours to borrow jumper cables.
“We got to the hotel by 2pm. [It was] smooth sailing because 10 minutes after we got in the car and [drove away] from the house at speed… [many other coastal areas] went into mandatory evacuation [mode],” Cahajla said, anticipating heavy traffic following soon after.
Even Orlando will not escape unscathed, but it won’t take the hit that the west coast of Florida potentially will. Cahajla went to Atlanta when Hurricane Irma threatened in 2017, but she said she doesn’t want to be that far away from home this time.
“I need to be closer, so we can get back quickly once the storm passes,” she said.
It isn’t just for her sake that she made the decision to move inland. She was thinking of her family too.
“Sebastian wants to be a meteorologist when he grows up,” she said, speaking of her young son. “I don’t want him to end up fearing the weather – going through what I went through in Cayman with Ivan.”
She hopes residents in her county and nearby will take this storm seriously.
“This is not something that I want or would ever wish on anybody or me again… I pray that I have a home to go back to, but more importantly, I want people to understand what this storm could do to the Tampa Bay area. No jokes, no hype, this is catastrophic and what you remember of Tampa Bay will not look the same, should the scenarios that are unfolding in front of us take place,” she warned.
“I’ve got all my water ready for when we return because I know we’re looking at days, weeks or months without utilities. [Leaving] has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make in my entire life. I’ve been living in a brand new house for four months, and while I truly believe it could take this [hit], mentally, I can’t.”
Related Videos
