Cape Coral residents batten down ahead of Thursday’s storm front

Residents in Cape Coral who are still recovering from Hurricane Ian made sure to prepare ahead of a strong storm system on Thursday.

The wind greeted residents as they woke up on Thursday morning, a preview of the wind and rain that was headed their way. It was not what Richie Hortsman wanted to hear.

“Every day, I pray that it doesn’t rain. You know, I know we need the rain, but I pray that it doesn’t for the sake that my house doesn’t get ruined,” said Hortsman.

Richie’s whole roof is tarped after Hurricane Ian damaged it almost three months ago. He had more tarps put on just a handful of days ago.

“We had to put sandbags on, and right now looks like right now the sandbags are moving. If it gets any worse than this, I guess we’ll be up there again. Yeah, it looks like one is coming off now,” Hortsman said.

Some of his tarps struggled against the wind on Thursday afternoon ahead of the storm.

WINK News saw other tarps flapping in the wind in northern Cape Coral as well.

The timing was everything for Ralph Huber. He had his roof repaired on Tuesday, but he feels for his neighbors who are still waiting to get rid of their tarps and are worrying about the forecast.

“They’re not built for a storm. They’re built just to keep the rain out during calm weather. They’re not going to hold up in the storm,” said Huber.

“I don’t know how that’s going to hold up in a storm,” said Hortsman of his tarps.

Hortsman said he is waiting for a public adjuster to look at his roof for repairs after hearing nothing from his insurance company.