Tropical storm strength winds from Hurricane Ian battered the Florida Keys late into Tuesday evening, with gusts kicking up to 72 mph.
The storm flooded residential streets and knocked out power. The wind howled for hours and palm trees took a beating.
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WATCH HEREIan frisked the Florida Keys as it inched toward the Gulf. A man riding his bike outside during the storm says he’s lived in the Keys for 23 years. Ian is his 12th hurricane.
“There’s a stop sign down. Nothing major. Branches," he said. "Actually, I found a bunch of money from one of those bars that has a bunch of money on the walls, so I got like 8 bucks on me."
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On world-famous Duval Street, businesses, shops, and even bars and restaurants were closed.
“We missed it. Irma was nasty. Wilma was nasty. But this was not much," another resident said.
Severe rain squalls with damaging winds created dangerous driving conditions. Downed trees blocked some roads.
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“To stay safe and avoid the rain, there’s nowhere else for me to go right now," said one woman who was staying at a shelter. "So I’ve only been here two weeks and there’s nowhere for me to go, so here’s the only place."
Monroe County opened its only shelter at Key West High School.
"I’ve never had to deal with flooding before, so this is all new for me," one man said.
Before the storm, residents and tourists visited the southernmost tip — it was the perfect photo opp when waves splashed 12 feet high.
“It's great. I’ve lived here 17 years and I’ve never had my picture taken at the buoy, so today, I was like, let’s do it." said a resident.
But as the weather begins to calm down, overnight emergency management says they're already planning ahead for potential storm surge and tornado threats.
“We will also potentially get 1-3 foot of storm surge as well, so a lot of people who live around here know the precautions to take for a storm surge,” said Kristen Livengood, Monroe County spokesperson.
