Oct 4, 2022

In a matter of just a few days everything changed.

In this edition of Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest, I had expected to be writing about the experience of attending the IBEX 2022 show and all the great new products on display and in demonstration on the water. I had a jammed agenda of meetings lined up and demo ride appointments with Navico Group, Garmin and other new innovators like Hydro Fin.

At about 1:30 pm Sunday September 25, I got an email from the IBEX show organizers that IBEX 2022 was cancelled due to Hurricane Ian.

It all happened so fast. On Friday September 23, I saw a news story about “Tropical Depression 9” that was developing south of Cuba and the Florida Governor had already requested Federal Emergency Assistance. By Sunday, Ian was a Category 1 hurricane and Anne Dunbar, the IBEX show manager sent out the message that the show was cancelled.

I’m sure that 90% of the exhibits were already at the Tampa Convention Center, the bigger displays were likely already set up and many of the people were already on site at the show.

It was an eleventh-hour call to cancel IBEX but clearly, it was the right call to make.

News reports coming in on Monday already showed that the weather was arriving on Florida’s west coast and at that point, the forecast models were suggesting that Tampa was in the cross-hairs for Hurricane Ian to arrive as a Category 4 on Tuesday. The show was scheduled to start Tuesday, but there was a full day of special events and educational sessions on Monday.

Of course, it all had to be cancelled, as much as possible torn-down and shipped out and people did their best to get out of Florida to safer locations.

While the sudden loss of IBEX was important to me, the bigger picture is the utter devastation left behind by Hurricane Ian. Trees, hydro lines and traffic signals were downed, roofs ripped off and people’s personal possessions were scattered everywhere.

As a person who frequently attends shows and events in Florida, my heart goes out to the people of Florida in their huge loss of homes and businesses and especially, those who lost their lives.

Here at home, Hurricane Fiona devastated large areas of Atlantic Canada and left three people dead.

These storms hit hard and fast. Hurricane Ian intensified very quickly in the Gulf then swept across Florida from west to east over land, then intensified into a hurricane again as it headed offshore for South Carolina. The effects of global warming seem more real when we face such extreme weather events. It really gives me pause to think and more importantly, to act in ways that reduce my carbon footprint.

Andy Adams – Editor