To travel or not to travel to Florida? How Hurricane Ian impact the state

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.-Hurricane Ian is moving closer to Florida by the hour.

“I think you should be concerned about the impacts that Ian will bring to the Florida peninsula,” said News 40 meteorologist Darius Mack. 

Fall break is next week, with many local residents planning vacations to Florida. 

“No matter where the track is, no matter where the center of circulation is, the entire Florida peninsula will be impacted by this storm,” said Mack. 

Parts of Florida like Destin and 30A are popular vacation spots for Kentuckians. The eye of the storm is expected to make landfall in the southern part of the state. But Mack says that all of Florida could be subject to flooding and spin up tornadoes. 

“We are planning to go to Florida,” said local resident Tiffany Arnold. 

Arnold is planning to go to Panama next week with her family. She’s been watching the hurricane’s path, which seems to mostly avoid that part of Florida, but she is staying alert. 

“It doesn’t seem like it’s going to [hit there]. Maybe just a little bit of rain but we hope not, we hope all is well. But if it did change and go that way, we would consider staying home and not put ourselves in that situation,” said Arnold. 

With some vacationers’ plans up in the air, one woman knows she is definitely going into the eye of the hurricane…on purpose, and for a good cause. 

“Trauma is hard, trauma is hard,” said Deane Oliva. 

Oliva is an American Red Cross volunteer and spiritual healer. After the hurricane makes landfall, she will have 24 hours to get to where there is the most need. 

“As a spiritual care provider I can be there to help them calm down, stay in the present moment, look towards the future with hope,” said Oliva. 

Oliva also says that the Red Cross is always needing more volunteers. For more information click here.