A clear sky. Low 41F. Winds light and variable..

A clear sky. Low 41F. Winds light and variable.

People walk along Bay Shore Blvd., as the outer bands of Hurricane Ian move toward shore, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Tampa, Fla.

People walk along Bay Shore Blvd., as the outer bands of Hurricane Ian move toward shore, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Tampa, Fla.

Hurricane Ian is moving up the Atlantic coast now. The storm swept across Florida with winds up to 150 miles per hour and large storm surges.

Ian hit land on the Gulf coast about 40 miles south of Sarasota. The area is a popular vacation area for Amish and Mennonite residents in Daviess County. Even though Sarasota and the neighborhood of Pine Craft did not take a direct hit from the hurricane it still did some damage.

“The damage in the Sarasota area was mostly trees,” said Terry Knepp of Montgomery, who has property in the area. “Our power was back on Thursday. That white vinyl fence is lying everywhere. There are tree limbs everywhere. Down the street there was a roof blown off of a horse barn. And a neighbor had a tree fall over on a house but it didn’t do any serious damage. For the most part not much serious damage there.”

That was not the case further south where the eye of the storm made landfall around Punta Gorda and Ft. Myers.

“Those places are a mess,” said Knepp. “Jerry Stoll and Marv Knepp left Thursday evening to check on their homes in Punta Gorda and see what kind of damage they had. The neighbors told them they had some roof damage. There was a carport on Jerry’s home that is gone and Marv has a big tree down where his fence used to be.”

Knepp says the reports from his Florida neighbors are good. He says other than some limbs from the palm trees in the yard his property survived the winds and rain.

“We have a couple of rental houses down there and they each sleep six people. They are both filled with insurance adjusters,” said Knepp. “I think they will be there a while.”

Knepp says the houses he had built in Florida has some stringent building codes and construction requirements. He says in the wake of the hurricane he feels that helped stave off some of the damage.

“I think it was justified,” he said. “Even down in Ft. Myers and Naples where all the damage was at, the buildings handled the winds. They just could not keep the water out. It was awful.”

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.

Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox.

First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.