Hurricanes Are Really Bad for Aircraft

November, 2022 – When Hurricane Ian approached KVNC in Venice, Florida, my aircraft was there on a tie-down. I asked my friendly aircraft mechanic down there, Andre El Ghawi, if there was a hangar spot available and he told me there was but at a premium. It would cost me $350 to get my RV-9A into a hangar for the short time it would take for the hurricane to pass through. I was at first reluctant but as the storm approached I told him to go ahead.

It turns out that Hurricane Ian (yes, a really unfortunate name) was headed just south but the north edge of the eye was a direct hit, with winds of more than 100 mph and torrential rain. I received a report the following day that 80 percent of the aircraft were either damaged or destroyed. Fortunately mine was in the 20 percent that were untouched. Almost all the hangars were demolished or seriously harmed by the strong winds and flying debris. Just take a look at this picture of the aftermath. Many of the hangar doors were blown off as well as significant damage to the interiors of most of them.

The aircraft right next to mine in the same hangar section was blown about and damaged as you can see in this next shot.

You can imagine the extent of the destruction to the whole airport.