Hurricane Ian: More Than 1 In 3 Florida Transplants Regret Moving

Hurricane Ian: More Than 1 In 3 Florida Transplants Regret Moving In the wake of Hurricane Ian, many Florida “transplants” have begun to reflect on their experience during a category 4…

Diana Beasley

Updated Nov 1, 2022 12:17 PM EDT

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Hurricane Ian: More Than 1 In 3 Florida Transplants Regret Moving

In the wake of Hurricane Ian, many Florida “transplants” have begun to reflect on their experience during a category 4 hurricane.

The team at Payless Power surveyed 304 individuals who have moved to Florida within the last 4 years to hear about their experience during Hurricane Ian.

56% of Florida transplants evacuated for Hurricane Ian.
55% of Florida transplants who stayed through the hurricane regretted it.
After Hurricane Ian, 38% of Florida transplants regretted moving to Florida.

Hurricane Ian was one of the most destructive storms we have seen in a while. In fact, 84% of Florida transplants experienced home damage. Additionally, of the 45% of transplants that stayed in Florida throughout the storm, 55% regretted it.

While some people regretted staying in Florida during the storm, others embraced it! In fact, 26% reported feeling more confident after the storm, and 29% said that experiencing the storm made them feel like a “true Floridian”. It’s nice to know that so many people can see a positive side to the difficult situation.

Living in a state like Florida means being as prepared as possible for a hurricane is important. Some transplants aren’t accustomed to factoring storm prep into their lifestyle, but in Florida, it’s necessary to do it before hurricane season every year. We asked transplants about their preparation plans for the next storm.

Payless Power

Check out the full study here.

Hurricane Ian: More Than 1 In 3 Florida Transplants Regret Moving

The Massive Cleanup Continues – October 31 Aerial Drone Footage Of Fort Myers Beach

If this is your first time seeing drone footage of the cleanup of Fort Myers Beach since Hurricane Ian barreled through over a month ago, you're shocked. But if you've been watching for progress. If you're seeing the cleanup. It's happening.

You can see where the roads and the driveways are. You can see areas where debris has been hauled away. It's nothing like the pictures taken on September 29th. But there's still so much to do. You can just catch a glimpse in the video of the big red sand sifter. Sand is being collected from the roads and other parts of the beach. The trucks load the sand into the machine. The machine sifts the sand and brings it up a conveyor. The sand is then piled up and used to restore the shoreline of Fort Myers Beach. That's how we'll get our beautiful white sand beaches back. One truckload at a time.

Fort Myers Beach cleanup is not going to end any time soon. But these crews are out here constantly. I applaud them. I've lived in Southwest Florida a long time and have seen many hurricanes. But I've never seen such a well coordinated effort to get our place back to normal. The damage done by that hurricane was unprecedented. The cleanup and restoration these crews are doing is like nothing I've ever seen. Thank you.