SWFL remains hopeful yet cautious in the face of potential tropical system

With peak hurricane season on the horizon and activity bubbling in the Atlantic, the wave we see on the satellite has Southwest Florida’s full attention.

WINK News anchor Annette Montgomery took to Fort Myers Beach on Monday to hear from locals on their thoughts about the potential tropical system.

She reported that while the activity has everyone’s attention, they’re not overreacting. Instead, they’re enjoying the sand, sun and sea.

The National Hurricane Center said this wave coming across the Atlantic currently has a 50% chance of forming into something tropical; something that has Karen Williamson saying her prayers.

“Oh my god, I just got back today from Ohio and I’m telling you if it’s coming…I’m going back, I’m going to book my ticket to go back,” said Williamson.

While this wave makes some people anxious, others told WINK that the stress comes with living and working in this little slice of paradise.

“It’s nerve-wracking this time of year…I think we all have in the back of our minds that this could happen again. We hope it doesn’t,” said the manager of Nervous Nellie’s, Andrew Wiersma.

There’s no reason to panic, so don’t stock your pantry or pack your bags just yet. Instead, keep an eye on the radar, the Doppler 3x like Verne Brakke is doing.

“I saw that this morning I said, well, we better start paying attention. You know, and get prepared,” said Brakke.

Many people on Fort Myers Beach, like Brakke, know what a hurricane can do. The town is still recovering from Ian two years later.

“We hope we don’t ever see that again. But we definitely have a big checklist and definitely certain things in the restaurant that we have to take care of,” said Wiersma. “But you know, we’re ready. We’re ready for the next one if it comes.”

The consensus on Fort Myers Beach seems to be that until The Weather Authority says to prepare, they’ll watch and wait, and hope for the best.

WINK News reporter Asha Patel was on the ground in Matlacha to garner reactions on the developments as well.

“It’s scary and you hope and pray it dissipates and turns and goes somewhere else, I really don’t want anyone to be involved. Hurricane Ian was very traumatic,” said local Sherry Riley.

She takes some comfort in the fact that this is still just a wave with only a 50% chance of further development into something tropical.

However, even if the wave does turn into something tropical like a storm or hurricane, that doesn’t mean it is coming our way.

WINK asked southwest Florida locals what they thought.

Peter Beiniek, a Cape Coral resident said, “Well, it always makes me cautious to look at what’s going on. I know this time of year the storms have a tendency to track a certain direction.”

He said that he’ll pay attention to Doppler 3x and The Weather Authority and that there’s no reason to do anything more than that.

“They pop up I see them go away, I see them pop up, they go away, they travel, they go different directions,” said Beiniek.

But for Riley, developments like this cause a bit more anxiety. She lost almost everything she owned in her St. James City home during Ian. So for people like Riley, they’re praying this wave turns away from Florida.

“I was telling my dad if there is a tropical storm here, I’m out of here I’m never going through that again,” said Riley.

Best advice: keep your attention tuned to WINK News and The Weather Authority, Chief Meteorologist Matt Devitt’s got you covered.

He’ll let us all know if this wave starts to head our way.

The good news for neighbors in Matlacha and across southwest Florida is there’s no sign of that soon.