CHICAGO (WLS) — Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida Wednesday afternoon as a Category 4 hurricane, leaving some Chicagoans stranded and hunkered down after they were unable to catch the last flights out of the state.
Millions have been told to evacuate or shelter in place, and both airports in Orlando and Fort Myers stopped operations Wednesday morning. Tampa Bay closed its airport on Tuesday.
READ MORE: Monster Hurricane Ian makes landfall on Florida’s Gulf coast
About 19 flights expected into Chicago from Florida Wednesday and Thursday have been canceled.
By Wednesday afternoon, the eye of the hurricane was centered over parts of southwest Florida. Roads are shut down and airports across the state are closed.
The passengers who deplaned from the last flights to land in Chicago this morning were thankful to escape in time.
“They had one more flight left at 7 a.m. so I hurried up and packed up,” said Ariel Pryor, Chicagoan. “I went outside it was like pitch black dark. My ride took a long time because the streets were flooded but I made my flight like 30 to 45 minutes before.”
Pat McGibbon left his home in Jacksonsville for a speaking engagement in Chicago. His wife and their dog are hoping to get out later this week. They have never experienced a hurricane.
READ MORE: Hurricane Ian nears Category 5 with max winds of 155 mph; Florida landfall in hours
“I just moved there in July, so this is our first one, but she’s got a car, and her and the dog will leave if it gets too tough, as long as they don’t shut down the bridge,” he said.
Another group was from Panama. They have meetings in the Midwest this week. Their flights out of Florida kept getting canceled, so they headed to Miami.
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“It was horrible. We didn’t sleep at all. We woke up at 3 in the morning. There was a ton of wind and rain. We were supposed to leave Miami through Fort Lauderdale flight. That was canceled. At 3 a.m. I found out it was canceled. We went to the airport to find out what we can do — found out I was able to get into this flight,” said Gabriela Harrara, who traveled from Florida.
Phil Herr is from Indiana, and owns a home on Captiva Island. He’s very concerned.
“Now they are saying a 16-foot storm surge. Our place is right on the ocean. I mean, it would be gone. It’s on stilts, but, with 16 feet, everything would be gone,” he said.
Some Chicagoans now find themselves bracing for the worst after recently moving to the Sunshine State.
“This is all new to us. I’ve lived in Chicago my whole life,” said Patrick Trapp who recently moved from Naperville to Naples. “We bought a house here a week ago.”
Patrick Trapp, who also lives near Naples, said he’s lived through chaotic winds in Chicago, but nothing like what he’s seen in the last few hours.
“I feel really bad for anyone, which is a lot of people, who don’t have as structurally sound of a place as we have,” he said. “I feel extremely fortunate that we feel relatively safe, even though this is a wicked storm.”
“As of Sunday all the water was sold out up here,” said Ken Cherry, who moved to Florida from Chicago Heights. “We’re right next to North Tampa. All the water was sold out down there. People were in gas lines the other day I saw that.”
He said he loaded up his bathtub Wednesday morning so that in the event he loses power he can flush the toilets and have drinking water.
“Just did everything I can and I got a lot of booze, as Chicago people tend to,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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