LEON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) — From grocery stores to sand bag stations, people across the Big Bend are getting prepared for this storm. Many people in the Capital City are trying to stock up on supplies ahead of Ian's potential landfall in Florida in the next few days.
Shelbi Patrick and AJ Hale are students at Florida State University. They said they plan on doing a few small things to prepare for the storm. "Make sure I fill up on gas, buy some extra water, some toilet paper and all that kind of stuff just to make sure I don't have to leave the house for a few days," said Hale.
But when asked if they're worried for the upcoming days, "No not really. Been through a lot so I'm not worried about it at all," said Patrick.
Craigie Huston on the other hand thinks this could end up being a bad storm. She's been spending her weekend stocking up on supplies. "Trying to get ahead on grocery things and lots of bottled water and batteries so I can use my headlamp when I'm without power for a bunch of days."
Some stores are already seeing empty shelves for things like bottles of water. However, one store manager told me they plan on having another shipment of water being delivered on Tuesday.
Huston tells me she's also worried about wind speeds knocking down tree limbs and possible flooding. Shannon Booker is trying to get ahead of the rains before they start. He's one of the dozens of people filling up sandbags to try to prevent flooding at home. "Get some bags for myself, for my house, and for my mother-in-law just trying to make sure that the water doesn't get in where it normally does when it heavily rains," said Booker.
Booker said he had to use some of his own sand bags after the Northwood Centre location ran out of City bags. The location opened at noon with 1800 bags and by 3:30 p.m., they were all gone. The City of Tallahassee added another 900 bags and pile of sand to this location later Sunday evening.
Booker said it's better to be prepared ahead of time.
"Just tying to get ready. Hopefully it's not as bad, wherever it hits hopefully it won't be bad for whatever area it hits."
