[Former StClairSailor]

First trip as a snowbird to Ft. Myers, FL area. Noted the number of awnings tied down, so I purchased a couple of twist down dog leads and springs. Used ratchet straps to hold the awing at the ends. Last week we had overnight 25 to 35 mph winds with gusts into the 50s. The noise from the flapping awning even scared our normally calm lab. Several times I jumped out of bed to see if the awning was still there. Wanting to get a good nights sleep, I retracted the awning the next morning as we still had very windy conditions. I also agree with Rich, the weak link is the channel and I didn't want to bet the awning on holding in those winds. The next night brought more high winds, but I didn't have to worry about the awning.
We have slide toppers, but they didn't make enough noise to wake us. Decided my policy now would be to tie down until the winds are predicted over a steady 20 mph. Then it gets retracted. That has worked good so far.