STOW, Ohio — It’s estimated that more than 500,000 former Ohioans now call Florida home. Countless others have ties to the Sunshine state through real estate, family, or friends.
Many Ohioans, including John Gardner, are keeping a close eye on Hurricane Ian.
“I always have the weather channel on, watching what’s going on. I also watch live web cams,” said Gardner.
He’s watching and worried. He’s hundreds of miles away here in Ohio, but he’s concerned about what is unfolding on Siesta Key.
“Definitely a lot of Ohio people are down. It’s not a secret, it’s a beautiful place to be. I’m not surprised so many people from up north around this area go down there to enjoy the weather,” said Gardner.
He’s been vacationing on Siesta Key since he was 3 years old. He loves it so much he bought a time share there about 10 years ago.
“Now, I’m getting to take my kids there,” said Gardner.
Gardner, his wife and kids were just there last month. Now he’s hoping Ian doesn’t destroy his dream vacation spot and can withstand Ian.
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
