SARASOTA, Florida — A longtime Sarasota resident who moved to Panama City in April of this year has evacuated back to his former home after riding out Hurricane Michael in his waterfront condo.

  • Harry Fager initially thought storm's brunt wouldn't be too bad
  • Barricaded windows when it was too late to leave
  • Evacuated to former home in Sarasota 3 days after landfall 

Harry Fager said when he first saw Hurricane Michael's projected path, he wasn't expecting the brunt of the storm to be too bad.

But in just a matter of hours the hurricane intensified. By the time Fager decided it was best to leave the area, it was too late. 

"There's no gas to be gotten anywhere, and the roads are clogged with people trying to get out," he explained. 

Fager decided to do what he could to protect his home. He stripped his bed, putting the mattress against a sliding glass window that overlooked the bay. His headboard and dresser he pushed up against a second set of windows. 

"I should have gone, and it was a big mistake," he said. 

 

 

The next day when Fager went outside to look around, he found walls blown out of his condo building and trees toppled over across the town. 

"I was just coming off an adrenaline high of trying to keep myself and my dog alive, and to walk around the very next day I was stunned to see the level of destruction," Fager recalled. 

By Saturday, three days after the hurricane made landfall, Fager decided there wasn't much else he could do and left for Sarasota. In a few weeks, he plans to return home in hopes of getting life back to normal. 

"So now if it's a real strong thunderstorm, I'm leaving!" he said with a laugh. "I'm out of there!"