VENICE, Fla. — The beachfront town of Venice was deserted Wednesday morning as Ian stalked the Gulf coast and 60 mph gusts blowing sheets of rain raked streets strewn with tree branches.
A lone cyclist who said his name is Adam pedaled through the downpour to the beach to take a look at the whitecaps, then to a parking garage where he had stowed his car. He wasn’t worried and he wasn’t the only one. But a lot of people were. They had already boarded up or evacuated, some to hotels in safer inland locations.
“I’ve seen worse in 40 years here,” he said, tightening the hood of his jacket hours before Ian was expected to make landfall with 155 mph winds. “We’ll see what happens but probably a ton of rain will keep dumping on us.”
