Courtesy Photo Renee Szymanski watches an update of hurricane Ian on Thursday. Szymanski’s sister Shanna Bursey endured the heart of the storm in Englewood, Florida.

ALPENA — The longest and scariest day of her life.

That’s how Shanna Bursey, a former Millersburg resident who now resides in Englewood, Florida, described her experience of riding out Hurricane Ian on Wednesday.

Ian, which made landfall just a few miles south of where Bursey lives, caused catastrophic flooding in damage to southwest Florida after it rolled onshore as a Category 4 hurricane.

Bursey was hunkered down at her job at the Englewood Hospital, where she works in the food and nutrition department. Although the hospital is now closed and patients are being transferred because of the damage it sustained, she is required to continue to work at the facility until other employees arrive and she is told to leave by her superiors.

She has no idea when that will be because of the impact Ian had on other employees and their families and homes.

Bursey said the rain began on Tuesday night and the intensity of the wind increased during the morning hours and about 11 a.m. on Wednesday “things got real.”

She said just when she thought the storm had reached its peak intensity, Ian’s temper would flare and conditions would worsen.

“It was nuts and like being stuck in the middle of a horror movie that you can’t get out of,” Bursey said. “We kept waiting for the roof to go. We had structural damage, some flooding, and a lot of our equipment was ruined. We got very, very lucky I think.”

She said she believes it will be some time before the hospital will be open again.

Englewood was stuck in the powerful eyewall of the hurricane for about seven hours, enduring winds that exceeded 100 miles per hour for most of that time.

Since the town was on the west side of the storm, Englewood avoided a large storm surge, but the 20 inches of rain it received Wednesday caused massive flooding.

Nearby communities like Fort Myers, were on the opposite side of the hurricane and received a brunt of the storm surge and more serious flooding.

Fort Myers is in Lee County, which is the neighboring county to Englewood, and appears to have suffered a high death toll. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that hundreds of people might have died in his county alone.

Bursey described the sound and the force of the wind and explained how the veracity of the hurricane impacted her.

“It was the loudest whistle and sort of a whirling sound I have ever heard,” she said. “I know it sounds weird, but you could feel the power of the storm through your entire body. The whole thing is just really hard to describe.”

During the early part of the hurricane, Bursey said the hospital began to develop leaks. As the storm neared, the wind and water began to take a toll on the building. She said eventually the power and water utilities went out as did cell phone service and internet access.

That, she said, made it impossible to relay information back to her family and friends in Northeast Michigan.

From about 5 p.m. Wednesday, until early Thursday morning, those close to Bursey were left wondering what was happening in Englewood and at the hospital. The more time that passed without hearing from Shanna, the more concern mounted, Bursey’s sister Renee Szymanski said.

Szymanski, the 911 Director in Presque Isle County, was staying current on the weather news coming out of Florida regarding Ian, its path, and intensity. She said she was nervous about her sister potentially being in danger, and her worry escalated when she hadn’t heard from Shanna from about 5 p.m. Wednesday until just after 6 a.m. Thursday.

She said when she received a message from her sister, she felt a great amount of relief.

“We had no idea what was going on for all those hours and all we could do was worry,” Szymanski said. “Shanna was right in the guts of the storm and when you see what is developing on TV, it makes the wait even harder. The waiting was the hardest thing ever.”

Bursey said she never wants to go through another large hurricane and she feels lucky to be alive. She said, as of now, she hasn’t been able to leave work to see the damage the wind caused in her community and has no idea what is in store when she goes home.

Bursey said she doesn’t even know if she has a home left.

“If it’s anything like I have seen pictures and videos of, then it is going to be underwater,” Bursey said. “If it is still standing and I have a place to go, I will feel blessed because so many other people lost everything. To be honest, I feel very grateful that I am able to walk out of here.”