FORT MYERS, Fla. - Never wake a sleeping child, especially an infant tucked in a plastic tub to protect him from drowning in the rage of Hurricane Ian.And while 3-month-old Charlie might not know today what his parents overcame to save his life that frightening afternoon on Sept.
28, his mother’s account of the cataclysmic storm will haunt the Fort Myers, Florida, family forever.Callie Brown remembers as Ian barreled ashore; it was just the winds at first.As a tree in their front yard crashed, strong winds ripped their backyard lanai out of the foundation, catapulting it into their neighbor's yard.Brown could only think this was the worst of the storm, but that's when the water started to flow inside her home.Callie Brown's family did not evacuate, and the storm surge nearly reached the ceiling in their one-story home in Fort Myers, Florida.
With her baby in a plastic bin, the new mom started swimming out of her house to avoid drowning. (Caroline Elliott "We noticed it by the back slider doors at first, and it seemed like it was a slow creep," she said. "Within 10 minutes, it was probably 2 feet deep."FEARING DEATH, PRAYING FOR A MIRACLE: SANIBEL ISLAND WOMAN SURVIVES IAN'S HISTORIC WRATHThe family debated jumping in their car to flee but quickly realized it was too late by the time they got Charlie ready to go."We couldn't even open our garage door anymore," Brown said. "The water pressure outside was so strong, and there was already a river going down our street."Taking to higher ground, they climbed into their attic as Brown’s husband started to grab anything he could recover quickly.