Area residents relieved they were spared the wrath of three hurricanes in Florida

Dodge a bullet? How about three with the names of Charley, Frances, and Ivan? Nicholas and Laurel Gikas of Rogers City, who have a winter home in Big Coppitt in the Florida Keys, believe they have dodged bullets and have weathered the storms in the hurricane-ravaged Sunshine State. The couple had just purchased a mobile home in a RV condominium resort in May and hasn’t spent one night in it. They had rented homes in the park since 1991, but this is the first time they had purchased what Laurel calls a “hut.”

Through all three storms, Laurel Gikas said it “was an emotional rollercoaster.” The first of the hurricanes was Charley, which was followed by Frances. “It was even worse with Frances,” said Gikas, who operates The Pavilion at Lakeside Park in Rogers City. “Some days we were on the hit list and others we weren’t.”

THE KEYS were pretty much spared from much damage, but just as Frances was losing steam, Ivan was building strength. The weekend before Ivan hit the Florida panhandle, the storm track from forecasters took the hurricane right through the Keys. “At one point they said it was going right over my house,” Gikas said. “It was horrid.” There was a mandatory evacuation of all mobile homes residents.

Gikas feared the worse and was even looking at RV’s that were “for sale” along US-23. She thought if her place was wiped out, the couple could purchase an RV and take it down there this winter, until their mobile home could be replaced. Ivan, with it

s winds of 130 to 160 m.p.h., stayed to the west of the Keys and continued north toward the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico. “We were worn out,” said Gikas, of the emotional strain they went through.

ONE ROGERS CITY RESIDENT who also spends winters in Panama City Beach and didn’t want to be identified, said, “Our area is in good shape.” His townhouse is located only seven miles from where two people lost their lives when a tornado touched down. Ivan spun off at least a dozen tornadoes in Florida, while creating a storm surge of 10 to 16 feet, topped by large battering waves.

Even with the scares in Florida, the man hasn’t changed his mind about heading south for the winter. “I kind of like it there,” he said. It’s nice in Florida, especially if it’s not in the middle of the hurricane season, which in 2004 was one of the roughest experienced for Florida residents and “Snowbirds” in some time.