High winds impacting holiday displays

Reporter: Justin Kase Writer: Matias Abril
Published: Updated:
High Winds

The weather outside is surely frightful, and it’s not the type of Christmas weather that will treat your outdoor decor very nicely.

What are neighbors doing to ensure their Santa doesn’t end up on somebody else’s roof?

Some neighbors are calling these windy conditions The Grinch, but they’re taking steps now to make sure the joy of Christmas isn’t stolen from them this year.

Decorations are being put away, others now have sandbags on top of them, and even some events are being put on hold.

Cape Coral resident Tone Stabley has the Christmas display that people literally hop in their cars to check out.

“I don’t want to take a chance. I’ve already lost it once, and I’ve put too much time into this, and I’d rather lose three days than the rest of the season,” Stabley said.

He’s lost his display in recent years because of another late-season storm, so he’s putting his display on pause and securing the items that could become holiday projectiles.

“This is like wrapping up for a tropical storm or a hurricane. It was really weird, but Florida is bipolar sometimes with the weather,” Stabley said.

Elsewhere in Cape Coral, Cape Christian is also hitting the pause button on their Christmas village because of the weather.

“Unfortunately, the wind is blowing everything all around,” said Cory Demmel, Cape Christian pastor. “It’s knocking over our backdrops. It’s blowing our inflatables, and so we are going to have to close the Christmas village for the next three nights.”

People in the community are still doing their best to get in the Christmas spirit despite the weather, and they’re enjoying it when and while they can.

The pastor of Cape Christian announced that their Christmas village will be closed through Saturday.

They’re optimistic that it will be open again on Sunday. They are posting updates on their social media accounts.

As for Stabley, he said he expects to have his display back up and running on Sunday or Monday.

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