Florida's skyrocketing population puts millions more at risk when a huge storm like Ian strikes

 Ten days after moving from Boston to Sarasota, Florida, Mike Cahill's family had to brace for catastrophic hurricane conditions for the first time in their lives.

"We just literally came down ... and we get the worst hurricane Sarasota has had in 100 years," Cahill said.

Data shows the Cahills aren't alone. In the last 10 years, nearly 3 million people have moved to Florida, meaning more people than ever before are at risk when a hurricane or tropical storm hits the state.

When Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992 as a monster Category 5 storm, the state's population was around 13 million. Since then it's ballooned to 21.5 million.

Researchers have estimated this week that Hurricane Ian will cause between $20-$70 billion worth of damages.

GET TEXT UPDATES: Sign up here for text updates on Hurricane Ian.

HURRICANE IAN TRACKER: Where is Ian headed? See the map.

Florida is known for its coastal views, and that's where much of the population growth is happening, said Stephen Strader, a geography professor at Villanova who studies the effects of natural disasters. But the state's ocean sunsets come at a price, he said.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/09/29/floridas-growing-population-put-more-people-ians-path/10460940002/

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