On the Friday before the hurricane, Shane began offering to help locals prep for the storm through the Westchase Neighborhood News Facebook group. Seventeen-year-old Shane stayed with dad Pat, who wasn’t worried about the storm. While mom Shawni and 24-year-old daughter Samantha scooped up the grandparents from Oldsmar and headed to a relative’s house in Orlando, son Jesse, 28, stayed with his fiancée’s family in Tampa. The Ely family of The Fords in Westchase did a bit of both. Some of us left when evacuations were announced. As Hurricane Ian inched closer and gained strength, some of us bought supplies and dusted off hurricane shutters.
For five days, the weather forecasts warned of the spinning monster in the Gulf, heading right for Tampa Bay.
