ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — Ian’s strong winds extended far from its eye on Florida’s west coast and into St. Lucie County, where one neighborhood is still without power.
In River Place, the power went out at 2 a.m. Thursday leaving homeowners, like Michael Manning, forced to borrow a generator.
“When I texted the guys this morning, sure enough, power went out,” Manning said. “He said, ‘I’ll bring the generator right up don’t worry about it.’”
Manning said his friend in Wellington saved the day after he moved to Port St. Lucie from Ohio.
“To move here and get to experience one right off the bat, it’s like go figure,” said Manning. “Not a good welcome to my wife who’s never experienced one.”
Even just the glancing blow of Hurricane Ian was enough to break branches and palm fronds and scatter them around.
The result of a night of uncertainty with a howling wind.
“It was pretty windy and woke up a few times lost a lot of branches,” said another resident.
For all the inconvenience, people in St. Lucie County said that this is no comparison to what people are experiencing on the west coast.
