C.J. Braden • Currently a 6 Minute Read
The Road Back to Sanibel : Our Hurricane Ian Story
Update: 12/30/22: We no longer recommend Tailored Loss Consultants (or the public adjuster Chad Schmitt).
Hear our Hurricane Ian Evacuation Story on our YouTube channel @carolynjbraden or below:
We are posting videos of our home and Sanibel post Hurricane via our TikTok account @carolynjbraden Follow our visual story there by clicking here.
Everyone has a story to tell about their life. I’ve written about my life up until this point on my website for many years. I learn from other people’s stories, so maybe someone out there can learn from ours. In this ongoing blog post or journal, I will be documenting our Hurricane Ian story. Hurricane Ian hit our home on Sanibel Island on September 28th, 2022, and due to the catastrophic destruction, it will be a long journey back.
Read on to learn about our Hurricane Ian evacuation story, our experience working with a public adjuster, how our 1978 house held up and more. For those that would like to hear our story, we’ve included our weekly video VLOGS as well.
Week One: September 28 - October 5 2022
Evacuating Our Fur Babies From Hurricane Ian
Our Hurricane Ian YouTube video VLOG: Week 1
We decided to leave Sanibel Island, our home, when the Hurricane Ian tracking made it start coming right at us. I went into a state of meditation to calm myself as I packed our necessary item for us and our pets. Meditation has an amazing brain healing power during stressful events.
The deafening whirring noise of the storm started right before we left Tuesday night at 12:30 am. Yes, probably later than we should have left, but the tracking showed it going more north up until right before we left, so it was a difficult decision for a while, but thankfully we listened to our hearts (and to my cousin who called me in a state of severe worry hours before we left).
Our honey bee swarm hive
Hurricane Ian, hours before swarming into the area like the honey bees (ones that weirdly swarmed a tree in our yard just three days before the hurricane), sounded like a strange machine in the air. Then the frogs started a strange “singing” noise in response. In the darkness, it reminded me of a strange movie scene, right before an unknown monster pops out of the darkness. In this case, the monster was Ian, telling me it was coming.
The honey bees that swarmed our tree branch 3 days prior to Hurricane Ian
Between that and the honey bees (I realized later they sought higher ground to protect their queen and hive which made me feel like I needed protection too) it was very surreal and seemed to tell us to get out. We drove through the night until we reached higher ground, the mountains of GA. Lots of coffee, adrenaline, making frequent stops and talking non-stop is the only way we stayed awake.
Minnie Pearl is up for any adventure
We stopped in Ellijay, Georgia (shout out to the owners of the Airbnb that got us in so quickly and have been so kind!) and will go to Indiana on Sunday to stay with family until our inspection of our house/property (we know it’s at least still standing) and until our insurance can assess everything. We’ll continue to work remotely as we’ve fortunately been able to for years now.
My heart is full of love as so many friends and family reached out to me, offering their homes and calming, positive words and prayers to us. Tommy and I are taking turns crying. It seems as if grief and worry for those that stayed on the island was our first emotion and then learning about the deaths of some people and animals just became quite overwhelming. This will be an emotional process, as this a form of trauma that will affect many people for many years.
We used our cargo platform to carry necessary items during the evacuation
We gave the names and locations of our neighbors that stayed to our local council people/authorities. They were rescued on Sunday, October 2nd, 2022, 4 days after Hurricane Ian hit. Thankfully they were safe in their homes and now we are working to help each other cope and figure out next steps.
The Sanibel Causeway will need be rebuilt as the causeway (which connects Sanibel to Fort Myers) is destroyed in three or more areas. Please help me say prayers for everyone affected by this storm, including our beloved wild animal friends affected by this. It’s a messy situation now, but it will be okay. The sun always shines again.
We packed our necessary items in totes and coolers
If you know of anyone in the area of the hurricane, or in a possible future one, please reach out to them without hesitation. The smallest positive action can have the largest positive impact.
Week Two: October 5 - 12 2022
Consignment shop fall attire
Our Hurricane Ian YouTube Video VLOG: Week 2:
We left Georgia and are now living at Tommy’s parents home in Sellersburg, Indiana and guess what?! We had only a few warm clothing items with us. Florida and Georgia is much warmer than Indiana in the fall, and since Indiana will be our home for a while, we knew we needed coats and pants.
Men’s fashion is important too
We planned on visiting some thrift stores, as we love vintage finds, and we did BUT the kindness of strangers and family members started pouring in.
Being fab in evacuation fashion
Not only did numerous people find us coats and donate gift cards to us, but store owners started gifting us with store credit and wellness visits. Tommy’s aunt set it up for us to shop with her store credit at Bellmonde Boutique and the store owner, Nikki, was the most kind soul, giving me a big hug after she listened to our story.
Margaret’s Consignment and Sassy Fox were kind as well. Restore Wellness comped our entire sauna and cryotherapy visit when they learned how we were there to calm our brains and why.
This is a consignment J Crew Sweater
The kindness we have witnessed brings tears to my eyes. Between everyone sweeping in to help us financially or help us with kind words and prayers for us has been overwhelming and we are both ever so thankful. I am working on hand written thank you notes for so many humans right now as I love to write my sincerity whenever possible.
Some may say that fashion or comfort is not important, especially in a situation like we are in, but I look at it in another light. I love fashion and know it’s important to keep our life as close to “normal” as possible. If I enjoyed dressing up in my daily life before the hurricane, I’ll continue to do so afterwards.
My normal is different now, but allowing Hurricane Ian to destroy who I am at my core (a lover of having creativity in my life, including fashion) is not going to happen. I also care about us being warm when it’s cold outside.
My husband, Tommy, also has a thyroid condition, which has his body temperature being a little off than the average person. If you don’t know, many people with thyroid issues tend to run “cold”, so having warm clothes as part of our fall “evacuation fashion” is important to his overall health.
Our blue Maine Coon, Monica
I also purchased a warm, fluffy bed and blanket for my cats, as they were used to having an equally comfy space in our home. They have a nice closed off area to live in right now, but we only evacuated with their large crate, and it’s still not as comfortable as what they are used to. Cats like to be cozy. As soon as I put the new bed down, Ross kneaded it and Monica jumped in and took a nap which means they are comfortable and that is very important to me.
Ross, our white Maine Coon
Thankfully our dogs, Minnie Pearl and Johnny Cash, and our cats, Ross and Monica, have traveled with us numerous times since they were babies, so they are used to having travel adventures with us.
Week Three: October 12 - 19 2022
Stacked Pumpkins On Huber’s Farm in Indiana
Our Hurricane Ian YouTube Video VLOG: Week 3
We are going to be in Indiana for a while. We are trying to visit friends and family and have some fun while we are here. I felt called to visit Huber’s Family Farm in Starlight, Indiana as soon as we arrived. My Nani (my maternal grandma) always took me there as a child. I felt her, in spirit form, telling me to go there. I have felt all my angels helping me throughout this process. I can’t explain how it feels to know they are there exactly other than telling you that I just feel them. My healing is coming from listening to them and my own heart.
We visited Huber’s Family Farm for a fun brain break
The Sanibel causeway has been temporarily fixed and will be accessible to residents beginning October 19 (earlier than the 21st expected date). This will also allow for more emergency services, contractors and more to come onto the island to help put it back together after Hurricane Ian.
Minnie Pearl loves the cool weather
We still have not gone to our house ourselves, but some neighbors accessed the island by boat and then arranged their own bike transportation to their homes (at their own expense prior to the causeway opening back up) and sent us some photos of our home. The NOAA had satellite images of our home almost immediately after Hurricane Ian hit, which was very helpful (we could at least see we still had a house standing).
Johnny Cash’s smile warms my heart
There still is no electricity, potable water, sewers or internet services. There is no gas for vehicles on the island. Cell phone reception is better as AT&T and Verizon brought in extra temporary towers, but it’s not perfect. It’s messy and still not livable. We will stay put in Indiana with our pets for now, but have made plans to return soon. My husband and his father will return in the coming weeks for initial clean up upon photos being taken by our public adjuster. We didn’t want to touch anything until insurance could see untouched damages.
It’s best to take extensive photos and video of your home NOW and immediately after an event. If you’ve never photo documented your home, please do so now. Catastrophes happen in many forms. If you have photo documentation, you will be able to help your insurance companies and yourself in getting your home back to it’s original state or better. We are DIY'ers and I have extensive before photos and our public adjuster will take extensive after photos.
Week 4: October 19 - 26 2022
We are working with a public adjuster for the damages on our property
Our Hurricane Ian YouTube Video VLOG: Week 4:
We hired a public adjuster (Chad Schmitt from Tailored Loss Consultants in Florida) and he was able to access our home and take extensive photos of the damage (interior and exterior) and he was able to do so on October 19th, 2022. Chad reached out to me on TikTok (yes we researched him and his company before hiring him) and I couldn’t have been more thankful.
The Screw Pine debris all over our property from Hurricane Ian
A public adjuster is someone who acts as a liaison between you and your insurance company. They do charge a fee, but we both decided the extra help was worth the cost as we both work and have never had this many insurance claims to deal with all at once. They can also help meet with your insurance adjusters for you.
Our last DIY project, a reed ceiling, survived Hurricane Ian!
Chad arrived at our home on October 19th, 2022 and took over 1,000 images and many videos of our home. We did see lots of destruction in the photos, but the house, again, is still standing. Mother nature provided us with some trees called Screw Pines along the back yard and pool area (which were at the home when we bought it) and I can’t help but think these magnificent plant life “creatures” helped protect our home in some way.
My “dog walking momma” evacuation fashion with Minnie Pearl and Johnny Cash
I always thought they looked like space aliens with their massive ground level roots, crawling our yard in a protective way, and now I think that maybe they were doing just that. While they are mostly gone now, I think some may be salvageable and will regrow.
I still remain fashionable to help maintain normalcy
One hurricane slider door (we have all impact resistant glass on all doors and windows) on our second floor did get pushed open slightly by the wind, causing some water damage to run through the floor, warping the wood floors, then causing bubbles in the ceiling on the first floor. Our adjustor said to keep using whatever paint we used because the bubbles never burst. We had just painted all the rooms in Behr paint by Home Depot, so a word to the wise, we recommend using it in your home too.
Minnie Pearl is enjoying her Hurricane evacuation adventures
Tommy will return with his dad for cleanup the weekend of October 28th, 2022. During this week, we are having our roof wrapped by a roofing company, as it fell apart and leaked due to the 155 mph hurricane winds. Our particular roof style (flat on top) could not be tarped via Operation Blue Roof (Army Corps) as they currently only use tarps. They are investigating using the wraps instead so they can help more homes like ours in the future. The wraps are better than tarps because they last up to a year, instead of the tarps, which are only recommended for 30 day periods.
Our fall family photoshoot at Spring Mill State Park
Throughout all of this work we will have to complete (lots of working with contractors and more), I am trying to help keep us on some sort of schedule, as it is great for the brain and overall health. I am ensuring we are walking daily for our health and the health of our dogs. We are taking weekend day trips to local parks, cooking meals daily, and watching a lot of comedy to keep laughter flowing. Laughter, after all, is the best medicine.
Week 5: October 26 - Nov 2 2022
Our Hurricane Ian Story Week 5
Our Hurricane Ian YouTube Video VLOG Week 5:
My husband Tommy has been sending me images of Sanibel while he is there. He said that no photo could ever capture the destruction he saw and felt. Everything that was once lush and green was brown due to the storm surge (salt water from surge kills a lot, including freshwater animals) and super strong winds.
Garbage is in mounds all over Sanibel Island
He and his dad found many of our items sprawled all across our neighborhood. He found gas cans, totes and our picnic table benches in our neighbor’s yard, several houses down and across the street. One of our patio chairs and other items were in our pool. We found things that didn’t belong to us in our own yard.
Many of our items were found yards away after being blown away by Hurricane Ian
He also found a book in our neighborhood, opened to page 222 (which is a special series of numbers personally meaning for me to trust my path, to know that I am in the right place at the right time). You cannot deny he was meant to see this. This photo he took is exactly how he found it.
Tommy found this book opened in this way to Romans 8:18
I read the passage “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us" (Rom. 8:18).
It definitely goes well with my house sign “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”, which is strangely perfect, exactly the way I left it. I named our house with this phrase earlier this year based on a feeling. I designed the sign myself and just love it. Little did I know how meaningful it would be. God knew though.
Something Tommy fished out of our pool after Hurricane Ian via our YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:
Our deflated inflatable hot tub was in our neighbors yard
Happiness is on the other side of this. My whole life up until now has prepared me for this and despite being kicked out of my home at age 17 (displacement is a familiar feeling to me, which I am strangely blessed to know), among so many other tumultuous life events, I can tell you I know I am right about this. You will encounter hardships in life but it will ALWAYS get better.
This is what a roof wrapping looks like on our house
We are very fortunate to have a roof still in tact and our damage isn’t near as bad as many others. Some of our neighbors had to have their homes gutted due to collapsed ceilings and tremendous flood damage. You’ll see that our roof was wrapped this week to prevent any more leaking. We have cracks in our house from the 155 mph winds that occurred during Hurricane Ian. Please continue your prayers for all humans and animals in the area.
This is the water cans given out by The Red Cross
Thankful to see iguana friends loving our yard right now and thankful for more than I can list here. Our Ruggable doormat held up in 155 mph winds, I think that is great marketing for them!
Iggy, our backyard wild iguana climbing our downed trees
Our RV mat (that friend’s gave to us years ago when we were contemplating buying an RV) was perfectly safe in a tote. We may need it soon!
Our Ruggable doormat held up
Just to put the clean up into perspective, it was 88 degrees every day Tommy and his dad were on Sanibel. This is a time when all that heat is NOT fun. There is still no power at our house and even if there were, our flood adjustor deemed our A/C units as damaged.
Tommy had to make sure he didn’t overheat during Hurricane Ian cleanup
The heat of SW Florida is welcomed when you have a clean ocean or pool to swim in, but we do not have those. The heat is also welcomed if you have an air conditioned home or working fans, but other than a few battery operated fans, it remains very hot in our house too.
The RV mat, found dry in a tote under our house post Hurricane Ian
The air quality is getting worse in the area due to Red Tide (an algal bloom) happening due to the effects of Hurricane Ian. Tommy and his dad drank lots of water, took lots of breaks and tried their very best.
My father-in-law was a big help during Hurricane Ian cleanup
They did a great job with the two full days they had BUT because our insurance adjustor has not visited our house yet (they work with the people that have no homes left first, as they should), they had to leave a lot of it as is. Our public adjustor took many, many photos, but we really need to have the insurance adjustor to see it as it really was after the storm. This is something I’d recommend to anyone to do if possible.
The wind of Hurricane Ian shook our home very much
Week 6: Nov 2 2022 - Nov 7th 2022
Week 6 of Hurricane Ian: No Insurance Help
Our Hurricane Ian YouTube Video VLOG Week 6:
Here we are, into week six after Hurricane Ian hit our home on Sanibel Island, and our main insurance company adjusters still have not made it to our house. We both understand that there is a huge area affected by this “100 year storm”, but 6 weeks is ridiculous.
We are overwhelmed with gratitude after Hurricane Ian
We are thankful to have family to stay with instead of fronting our own money for shelter, but there are many people that are not as fortunate. FEMA still has not been to our house either. People keep asking us “When will the hurricane be over?” (we know what they mean as the hurricane itself lasted only about one day), but in many ways it still feels as if a hurricane is still hitting our life.
I keep seeing signs telling me it will be okay
I continue to see things around me that I believe are ways that God and my angels are telling me what I need to know. I saw a sign (a literal sign) in a store the other day that said “Don’t Worry Be Happy”. This is my go-to phrase in which I even named my house on Sanibel. I know it will be okay, but I feel frustrated sometimes, and this is normal.
My silly Maine Coon, Ross
Anytime I feel frustrated, especially after someone tells me to stop feeling this way, I look to my cats and dogs to bring a smile to my face. I’ve had people say kind things to me, but have also had people (insensitive people that are in my own family) tell me I need to stop worrying about my house and my things because I “should not worry about anything that money can fix.” As this is true, it’s still hard to cope with.
My Maine Coon cat, Monica
The insensitive people in my family saying these things to me have not ever dealt with this type of situation (and did not call me at all during this experience), nor have they worked anywhere close to as hard as my husband and I have worked to get to where we are in life. As you read my story, you may not know us well, so let me sum up where we came from. My husband and his family were on welfare during his childhood. I was homeless at age 18. Neither of us came from a wealthy family, so we value everything that we have now.
My dogs, enjoying the fall weather of Indiana
We value our relationships over everything. I am uplifted by those that have supported us during this time and do turn away from those that have not. Next, we value our hard work and determination and the bounties and experiences it brings us. I am probably one of the few people in the world that is not attached to “things”, however it is still difficult to see the house I spent the last two years renovating with my husband in the state it’s in. Yes, we still have a house but seeing all the work it needs now makes us both want to curl up in bed and stay there forever.
We are thankful for the kind people in our life
While we won’t be a turtle that shrinks back into a shell, we will have to continue to move forward at the turtle pace. With insurance scheduled to be at our home on Wednesday, November 9th (6 weeks after Hurricane Ian), we hope things can start to move forward a bit after this date.
We found fossils and geodes on a fun Saturday outing
In the meantime, we will try our best to keep working, keep creating, and keep exploring. We know this is one hiccup in life and will try to keep a smile on our face and remain hopeful. Our faith is sometimes weak, but our souls are stronger.
I’m still creating for my website and social media
Our Hurricane Ian story continues:
Click here for Part One of our Hurricane Ian story, which tells about our experience in weeks 1-6.
Click here for part two of our Hurricane Ian Story, which tells about our experience in weeks 7-8.
Click here for part three of our story in week 9-10.
Click here for part four of our story in weeks 11-14.
Click here for part 5 of our story in weeks 15-18.
C.J. (Carolyn) Braden is a regular contributor and editor for Carolyn’s Blooming Creations. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.