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The Picture Show

Photos: this is what florida looks like after hurricane ian.

Virginia Lozano

Joe Hernandez

Diana Bisson looks out from her kitchen in her home in the Flamingo Bay neighborhood in Pine Island Island, Fla., on Monday, after Hurricane Ian ravaged the area. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

Diana Bisson looks out from her kitchen in her home in the Flamingo Bay neighborhood in Pine Island Island, Fla., on Monday, after Hurricane Ian ravaged the area.

Floridians are finding themselves in a changed landscape after Hurricane Ian swept through the region on Wednesday. Images of the aftermath show a glimpse of the destruction caused by the powerful Category 4 storm: homes washed out, boats yanked from their moorings, and decimated neighborhoods. Rescue and recovery efforts are underway after some of the more dangerous conditions subsided, some deaths have been reported and massive power outages continue, as the full scope of Ian's destruction becomes clearer.

Here are some photos of what Hurricane Ian left behind:

Bill Denver tries to salvage what he can from his bee hive in the Flamingo Bay neighborhood on Pine Island Fla., on Monday after Hurricane Ian ravaged the area. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

Bill Denver tries to salvage what he can from his bee hive in the Flamingo Bay neighborhood on Pine Island Fla., on Monday after Hurricane Ian ravaged the area.

Construction crews work to repair a bridge which leads to Matlacha Island, Fla. on Monday. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

Construction crews work to repair a bridge which leads to Matlacha Island, Fla. on Monday.

Lindsay Comstock removes ruined furniture from her home in the Dean Park historic district of Fort Myers, Fla. on Sunday. Lindsay had evacuated with her family and had come back to her home to clean up and pick up the remains. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

Lindsay Comstock removes ruined furniture from her home in the Dean Park historic district of Fort Myers, Fla. on Sunday. Lindsay had evacuated with her family and had come back to her home to clean up and pick up the remains.

A member of the Florida Fish and WildlifeConservation Commission stands guard along Highway 70 in Arcadia, Fla. after Hurricane Ian dumped lots of water in the area. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

A member of the Florida Fish and WildlifeConservation Commission stands guard along Highway 70 in Arcadia, Fla. after Hurricane Ian dumped lots of water in the area.

A damaged gas station in Fort Myers, on Sunday. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

A damaged gas station in Fort Myers, on Sunday.

The Peace River RV & Camping Resort in Wauchula, Fla., on Oct. 1. The area sits beside the Peace River which overflowed and flooded parts of the area. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

The Peace River RV & Camping Resort in Wauchula, Fla., on Oct. 1. The area sits beside the Peace River which overflowed and flooded parts of the area.

Crews work on power lines near Ona, Fla., after Hurricane Ian, Oct. 1. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

Crews work on power lines near Ona, Fla., after Hurricane Ian, Oct. 1.

Residents wade through water to get to their house in a flooded neighborhood on Oct. 1, 2022 in Orlando, Fla. Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Residents wade through water to get to their house in a flooded neighborhood on Oct. 1, 2022 in Orlando, Fla.

Flooded streets in Sanibel Island, Fla., on Sept. 30, 2022, two days after Hurricane Ian passed through. Tom James for WGCU/NPR hide caption

Flooded streets in Sanibel Island, Fla., on Sept. 30, 2022, two days after Hurricane Ian passed through.

A damaged causeway to Sanibel Island on Sept. 30, 2022, near Sanibel Island, Fla. Tom James for WGCU/NPR hide caption

A damaged causeway to Sanibel Island on Sept. 30, 2022, near Sanibel Island, Fla.

Drivers in a major traffic jam on I-75 North on Sept. 30, 2022. The Peace and Myakka Rivers rose to above normal levels days after Hurricane Ian pummelled the area. The area had already experienced flooding during the hurricane and now days later is flooding once again, this time from rising river waters. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

Drivers in a major traffic jam on I-75 North on Sept. 30, 2022. The Peace and Myakka Rivers rose to above normal levels days after Hurricane Ian pummelled the area. The area had already experienced flooding during the hurricane and now days later is flooding once again, this time from rising river waters.

People ride bikes along a street in Punta Gorda, Fla., on Sept. 30, 2022, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

People ride bikes along a street in Punta Gorda, Fla., on Sept. 30, 2022, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

A boat is submerged in the middle of the Peace River in Punta Gorda on Sept. 30, 2022. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

A boat is submerged in the middle of the Peace River in Punta Gorda on Sept. 30, 2022.

Barbara Gaskin speaks with a man while waiting in line at the only gas station still open near North Port, Fla., on Sept. 30, 2022. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

Barbara Gaskin speaks with a man while waiting in line at the only gas station still open near North Port, Fla., on Sept. 30, 2022.

Jim and Susan Helton sit in their back of a car outside a hotel in Fort Myers, Fla. on Sept. 30, 2022. Their home in Fort Myers beach was destroyed by hurricane Ian. They are staying in a hotel that has no power or water. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

Jim and Susan Helton sit in their back of a car outside a hotel in Fort Myers, Fla. on Sept. 30, 2022. Their home in Fort Myers beach was destroyed by hurricane Ian. They are staying in a hotel that has no power or water.

Douglas Jensen hugs his neighbor Emily Fisher after they saw each other when they came to visit what was left of their homes in Fort Myers, Fla., on Sept. 30, 2022. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

Douglas Jensen hugs his neighbor Emily Fisher after they saw each other when they came to visit what was left of their homes in Fort Myers, Fla., on Sept. 30, 2022.

People leave the flooded community of Country Club Ridge in North Port, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022, after Hurricane Ian passed through the area a day earlier. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

People leave the flooded community of Country Club Ridge in North Port, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022, after Hurricane Ian passed through the area a day earlier.

A couple sits in front of their home in Englewood, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

A couple sits in front of their home in Englewood, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022.

Sheryl Hawk outside her home in Englewood, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

Sheryl Hawk outside her home in Englewood, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022.

Larry Goerlatz cleans up pieces of his roof in Englewood, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

Larry Goerlatz cleans up pieces of his roof in Englewood, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022.

Charlene Goerlatz looks out the window of her home where the roof fell in after Hurricane Ian in Englewood Florida on September 29, 2022. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

Charlene Goerlatz looks out the window of her home where the roof fell in after Hurricane Ian in Englewood Florida on September 29, 2022.

People leave the flooded community of Country Club Ridge in North Port, Fla., after Hurricane Ian on Sept. 29, 2022. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

People leave the flooded community of Country Club Ridge in North Port, Fla., after Hurricane Ian on Sept. 29, 2022.

Damaged homes and debris are shown in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Sept. 29, 2022, in Fort Myers, Fla. Wilfredo Lee/AP hide caption

Damaged homes and debris are shown in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Sept. 29, 2022, in Fort Myers, Fla.

Residents of mobile homes clean up debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, in Fort Myers, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022. Giorgio VIERA / AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Residents of mobile homes clean up debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, in Fort Myers, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022.

A home burns on Florida's Sanibel Island on Sept. 29, 2022, in the wake of Hurricane Ian. Wilfredo Lee/AP hide caption

A home burns on Florida's Sanibel Island on Sept. 29, 2022, in the wake of Hurricane Ian.

Stedi Scuderi looks over her apartment in Fort Myers, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022, after floodwater inundated it when Hurricane Ian passed through the area a day earlier. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

Stedi Scuderi looks over her apartment in Fort Myers, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022, after floodwater inundated it when Hurricane Ian passed through the area a day earlier.

A resident walks back home on a flooded street in Fort Myers, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022, the day after Hurricane Ian slammed into the area. Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

A resident walks back home on a flooded street in Fort Myers, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022, the day after Hurricane Ian slammed into the area.

Boats are left stranded on the shore in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022. Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A truck pulls a man on a kayak on a low-lying road in Key West, Fla., on on Sept. 28, 2022, after flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Mary Martin/AP hide caption

Frankie Romulus (left) and Kendrick Romulus stand on Sept. 29, 2022, outside their apartment in Fort Myers, Fla., next to a boat that floated into their complex when Hurricane Ian passed through the area. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

Motorists travel across the John Ringling Causeway in Sarasota, Fla., as Hurricane Ian churns to the south on Sept. 28, 2022. Sean Rayford/Getty Images hide caption

A person rides a bicycle in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Sept. 28, 2022, before Hurricane Ian hits the area. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

A person rides a bicycle in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Sept. 28, 2022, before Hurricane Ian hits the area.

Allan Juhl gets help tying up his canoe while his partner Katie Falcon and their neighbors Ashley Palacios and her brother Andres Garcia look on Sept. 27, 2022, in the Palmetto Beach neighborhood of Tampa, Fla., before Hurricane Ian hit the area. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

Allan Juhl gets help tying up his canoe while his partner Katie Falcon and their neighbors Ashley Palacios and her brother Andres Garcia look on Sept. 27, 2022, in the Palmetto Beach neighborhood of Tampa, Fla., before Hurricane Ian hit the area.

A boarded up business is seen on Sept. 27, 2022, in Gulf Port, Fla., before Hurricane Ian hit the area. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

A boarded up business is seen on Sept. 27, 2022, in Gulf Port, Fla., before Hurricane Ian hit the area.

Two people work on boarding up a house in South Tampa, Fla., on Sept. 27, 2022, before Hurricane Ian hit the area. Carlos Osorio for NPR hide caption

Two people work on boarding up a house in South Tampa, Fla., on Sept. 27, 2022, before Hurricane Ian hit the area.

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News Weather Storms & Hurricanes

‘no reason to come … there’s nothing here.’ florida residents in shock at devastation left in hurricane ian’s wake.

Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel

Island residents await evacuation on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

A woman walks in front of a giant fallen live oak tree in Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Dave Loesser, who lives in the nearby Johnathan Harbor community, talks on the phone next to a boat that has landed atop pilings on a dock at the Port Sanibel Marina near Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel

Aerial photo of damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Thursday, September 29, 2022, in Cape Coral.

City of Miami fire rescue worker Dennys Bermudez, part of the FEMA USAR South Florida Task Force 2 rescue team, gets a hug from an island resident he helped bring to the main bridge for evacuation from the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Aerial photo of damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Thursday, September 29, 2022, in Sanibel.

Mileivys Dominguez, left, and her sister, Maida Dominguez, carry some of Maida's belongings away from her flooded home in Iona, in unincorporated Lee County near Fort Meyers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

A man picks his way through the remains of a clothing store, blown out by Hurricane Ian in the Times Square area near the Lynn Hall Pier on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Ricardo Arduengo/Getty-AFP

Debris litters a street in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Punta Gorda on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, the day after the Category 4 storm made its first landfall here.

The Times Square area near the Lynn Hall Pier has been reduced to rubble on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

An Island resident starts across the bridge to the mainland from on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

A gutted souvenir shop can be seen in what is left of the Times Square area near the Lynn Hall Pier on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Mileivys Dominguez reacts emotionally as she is picked up by a passing motorist as she and her family attempted to walk out of her flooded community in Iona, in unincorporated Lee County near Fort Meyers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD/AP

Businesses in downtown Fort Myers, Fla., suffered damage from Hurricane Ian Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022 in Fort Myers, Fla., Hurricane Ian has left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2.5 million people.

Destruction at Trico Shrimp Co And Trico Seafood Market on Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Aerial photo of damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Thursday, September 29, 2022, in Fort Myers.

Caitlin Bechtel, left, speaks to FEMA USAR South Florida Task Force 2 rescue team members from her second story window on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Ana Kapel walks through what is left of the Times Square area near the Lynn Hall Pier on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A bicyclist rides past a sign reading, 'No Ice Cream for Ian,' painted on a building that is boarded up for the possible arrival of Hurricane Ian on September 27, 2022 in St Petersburg, Florida. Ian is expected in the Tampa Bay area Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.

Douglas R. Clifford/AP

Brianna Renas, 17, inspects a fallen palm tree outside her home in Cape Coral after riding out Hurricane Ian with her family on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Cape Coral.

Aerial photo of the Sanibel Lighthouse and surrounding damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Thursday, September 29, 2022, in Sanibel.

FEMA USAR South Florida Task Force 2 rescue team members evacuate John Van Fleet, who has a very swollen right leg, on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Van Fleet said even though he had an injured leg, "Physically I'm ok, mentally I'm a basket case." Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Sean Rayford/Getty Images North America/TNS

Wind gusts blow across Sarasota Bay as Hurricane Ian churns to the south on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Sarasota, Florida.

Giorgio Viera/Getty-AFP

Boat are partially submerged at a marina in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida, on Sept. 29, 2022.

Police board beached yachts at Fort Myers Wharf on the Caloosahatchee River Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Aerial photo of damage at the Punta Gorda Airport in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Thursday, September 29, 2022, in Punta Gorda.

Birds fly overhead as rescue workers are shown during a brief break at the beach on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

What was once buildings and boats is now a tangled mess at San Carlos Blvd. and Main Street, at the base of the bridge to Fort Myers Beach on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

A house can be seen through the skeletal remains of a wrecked RV on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Chinook Helicopters fly over Sanibel Island as a pelican rests atop a piling that was part of the Lynn Hall Pier on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

A man gets help for an ailing dog from City of Miami fire rescue worker Dennys Bermudez, part of the FEMA USAR South Florida Task Force 2 rescue team, on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

BSO fire rescue worker Jordan Elrod, left, and Jimmy Dobson, both part of the FEMA USAR South Florida Task Force 2 rescue team, speak to island residents on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

The remains of the Times Square area near the Lynn Hall Pier are shown reduced to rubble on the island of Fort Myers Beach, are shown on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Mileivys Dominguez takes off her shoes to wade through floodwaters to get to her home in Iona, in unincorporated Lee County near Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

The remains of a clothing store, blown out by Hurricane Ian in the Times Square area near the Lynn Hall Pier on the island of Fort Myers Beach, is shown on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Electrical workers stage in a lot near Naples on Thursday, September 29, 2022.

What is left of the Lynn Hall Pier can be seen just beyond rubble from the Times Square area on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Back on the mainland, Caroline Wieder, of Sanibel Island, takes a group selfie with friends who rode out Hurricane Ian with her on Sanibel Island. This at the Port Sanibel Marina near Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

A woman hands a box through a hole in her garage door on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Destruction on Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Boats and the dock rest on land just off the roadway at the Port Sanibel Marina near Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Aerial photo of the damaged Sanibel Causeway that connects Fort Myers to the island community seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Thursday, September 29, 2022, in Fort Myers.

In this aerial view, vehicles make their way through a flooded area after Hurricane Ian passed through the area on Sept. 29, 2022, in Fort Myers, Fla. The hurricane brought high winds, storm surge and rain to the area, causing severe damage.

Pontoon boats and the dock they are lashed to are upended at the Port Sanibel Marina near Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Just before the Sanibel Causeway, a spiral staircase was deposited in the brush next to a white pickup as Hurricane Ian passed the area Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022 in Sanibel, Fla. Hurricane Ian has left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2.5 million people.

A card from the board game, "Trivial Pursuit" is shown as floodwaters recede on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

A portion of a boat that rests on a dock at Fort Myers Wharf on the Caloosahatchee River Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

rob oneal 305 942~1299/AP

Visitors to the Southernmost Point buoy brave the high waves from Hurricane Ian crash for photos, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022, in Key West, Fla. Ian was forecast to strengthen even more over warm Gulf of Mexico waters, reaching top winds of 140 mph (225 kmh) as it approaches the Florida's southwest coast.

Justin Martin tows a tiny blue toy jeep filled with water bottles and other supplies from his flooded home in Iona, in unincorporated Lee County near Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida and left thousands without clean water for days. A national campaign, "Imagine a Day Without Water," on Oct. 20 promotes the message to conserve and not take water for granted.

A man rides his bicycle amid the destruction on Estero Blvd., the main thoroughfare on the island of Fort Myers Beach, on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Island residents unload from a specially outfitted City of Miami rescue vehicle, part of the FEMA USAR South Florida Task Force 2 rescue team, on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Rescue teams, business owners and island residents traverse the northernmost bridge from the mainland to the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

A woman kayaks through a mobile home community in Iona, in unincorporated Lee County near Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

A man walks through debris on a street in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Punta Gorda, Florida, on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, the day after the Category 4 storm made its first landfall here.

Pelicans rests atop what once was part of the Lynn Hall Pier on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Coast guard machinery technician Harrison Corsi, part of U.S. Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team, South, hangs onto a rescue vehicle as FEMA USAR South Florida Task Force 2 rescue team patrols the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images

A Christmas themed store is boarded up with messages for Hurricane Ian on September 27, 2022 in Clearwater, Florida. - The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Ian made landfall just southwest of the town of La Coloma, Cuba, at about 4:30 am local time (0830 GMT). The hurricane was packing maximum sustained winds of 125 miles (205 kilometers) per hour, the NHC said, making it a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Island residents await evacuation at 7-11 on Estero Blvd., the main thoroughfare on the island of Fort Myers Beach, on Friday, Sept. 30. There are two of the chain gas stations on the island and both are being used as rendezvous points for evacuees to await transport. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

The island of Fort Myers Beach is shown on Friday, Sept. 30 after Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Aerial photo of damage at a Publix supermarket in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Thursday, September 29, 2022, in Fort Myers.

Helicopters fly over rubble in the Times Square area near the Lynn Hall Pier on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Sammie Clark, 11, left, of Iona, and Nevaeh Curran, 11, of Fort Meyers Beach, explore a flooded mobile home community in Iona, in unincorporated Lee County near Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Michael and Romeo walk past a sign reading,' Bark Off Ian, No Treat for you,' painted on a building that is boarded up for the possible arrival of Hurricane Ian on September 27, 2022 in St Petersburg, Florida. Ian is expected in the Tampa Bay area Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.

Jonathan Strong, of Cape Coral, holds his vest above the water as he wades through floodwaters while knocking on doors at a flooded mobile home community in Iona, in unincorporated Lee County near Fort Myers, on Thursday. Strong, who is unaffiliated with any volunteer group, said he came out to help because, "I can't just sit around while my house is intact and let other people suffer. It's what we do; community helping community."

A dog is walked through floodwater as the tide rise, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022, in Key West, Fla., as the first bands of rain associated with Hurricane Ian pass to the west of the island chain. Ian was forecast to strengthen even more over warm Gulf of Mexico waters, reaching top winds of 140 mph (225 kmh) as it approaches the Florida's southwest coast.

Residents and business owners cross the bridge to Fort Meyers Beach at San Carlos Blvd. and Main Street, at the base of the bridge to Fort Myers Beach on Thursday, Sept. 29. The island is not yet open to the general public. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Aerial photo of what is left of the Fort Myers Fishing Pier in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Thursday, September 29, 2022.

A couple carries their belongings out of a flooded mobile home community in Iona, in unincorporated Lee County near Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Boats rest just off the roadway at the Port Sanibel Marina near Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Local muralist Candy Miller picks through rubble in the Times Square area near the Lynn Hall Pier on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Emergency workers walk past the remains of a clothing store, blown out by Hurricane Ian in the Times Square area near the Lynn Hall Pier on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Joe Dalton, on vacation from Cleveland, Ohio, checks out beached boats at Fort Myers Wharf on the Caloosahatchee River Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Local muralist Candy Miller, left, embraces Ana Kapel, the manager of the Pier Peddler, a gift shop that sold women's fashions, as she becomes emotional at the site of what used to be the store on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Owner Robert Leisure walks into what used to be the gift shop of the Getaway Marina in Fort Myers Beach, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

A section of the causeway leading to Sanibel, Fla., in Lee County was knocked out by Hurricane Ian Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. Hurricane Ian has left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2.5 million people.

The remains the Lynn Hall Pier and the Times Square area on the island of Fort Myers Beach, are shown on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Island residents walk past a wrecked Corvette amid the destruction on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Island residents await evacuation, as shown through the remains of a clothing store on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

John Van Fleet, who has a very swollen right leg, is evacuated from his home by FEMA USAR South Florida Task Force 2 rescue team members on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Van Fleet said even though he had an injured leg, "Physically I'm ok, mentally I'm a basket case." Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Island residents are evacuated from the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Pedro Portal/El Nuevo Herald/TNS

Sailboats anchored in Roberts Bay are blown around by 50 mph winds in Venice, Florida, as Hurricane Ian approaches the state's west coast on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022.

Visitors skirt debris and portions of the dock that have washed ashore as they check out the damage at the Centennial Park and Fort Myers Wharf area on the Caloosahatchee River Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Hilary Swift/The New York Times

Palm trees bend under high winds as Hurricane Ian passes through Ybor City, Fla. on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022.

A woman pushes a shopping cart amid the destruction on Estero Blvd., the main thoroughfare on the island of Fort Myers Beach, on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Island residents walk around the downtown area on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Jonathan Strong, of Cape Coral, dives into flood waters while he and his girlfriend Kylie Dodd, also of Cape Coral, knock on doors in a flooded mobile home community in Iona, in unincorporated Lee County near Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Strong, who is unaffiliated with any volunteer group said he came out to help because, "I can't just sit around while my house is intact and let other people suffer. It's what we do; community helping community." Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Destruction from Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Fla. on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. Ian barreled across the Florida peninsula early Thursday, with officials still assessing the damage but warning that the storm could set flooding records and go down as one of the worst storms to ever hit the state.

A Chinook helicopter flies over Iona, in unincorporated Lee County near Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

What used to be the office and gift shop of the Getaway Marina is reflected in owner Robert Leisure glasses in Fort Myers Beach, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Owner Robert Leisure walks into what used to be the gift shop of the Getaway Marina in Fort Myers Beach, on Thursday.

What is left of the Lynn Hall Pier can be seen just beyond a pizza shop in the Times Square area on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Boats are pushed up on a causeway after Hurricane Ian passed through the area on Sept. 29, 2022, in Fort Myers, Florida. The hurricane brought high winds, storm surge and rain to the area, causing severe damage.

Leah Schepp looks back at a portion of a boat that rests on a dock as she and Seamus Long, both of Fort Myers, check out the Centennial Park and Fort Meyers Wharf area on the Caloosahatchee River Thursday, Sept. 29. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

A pickup truck navigates a flooded section of First Street outside of the United States Courthouse in downtown Fort Myers on Wednesday, Sep 28, 2022, where storm surge continued to inundate Lee County long after the eye wall passed into central Florida.

Island residents hop off of a specially outfitted City of Miami rescue vehicle, part of the FEMA USAR South Florida Task Force 2 rescue team, on the island of Fort Myers Beach on Friday, Sept. 30. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Jonathan Strong, of Cape Coral, hugs Maida Dominguez after bringing her to dry land in a flooded mobile home community in Iona, in unincorporated Lee County near Fort Myers, on Thursday, Sept. 29. Strong, who is unaffiliated with any volunteer group said he came out to help because, "I can't just sit around while my house is intact and let other people suffer. It's what we do; community helping community." Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane on the Southwest coast of Florida.

Eerie scenes of destruction punctuated by jarring lighthearted moments replayed themselves over and over along Florida’s Gulf coast on Thursday as residents who fled the wrath of Hurricane Ian returned to discover what’s left of their homes.

Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the U.S., made landfall first near Coya Costa, an island off Fort Myers, and then finally on the mainland near Punta Gorda, on Wednesday. For hours, the near-Category 5 storm pummeled the region before barreling through Central Florida, leaving devastation and major flooding in its wake across the state.

‘We’re alive’

At the Port Sanibel Marina on Port Comfort Road, Kelsey Smith, 32, and her boyfriend Nathan Wider were among a group of at least eight people who Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission picked up from the Sanibel Island and dropped off at the marina shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday.

Smith, covered in gray sediment sludge and shoeless, described the havoc through tears — scattered cellphone connectivity leaving many without ways to communicate with loved ones; boats on top of houses; fish and alligators swimming through the street in front of Traders Restaurant on Periwinkle Way; and damage to “almost every house that was a single level or ground level.”

“The island is torn apart,” she said.

Wider, who owns Sanibel Sport Fishing Charters, heard from other charter boat operators that people were taking to attics to avoid flooding, and some were struggling to keep their heads above water, his girlfriend said.

Ahead of the storm, Smith said she parked her car on a ramp about 15 feet high at Jerry’s Foods on Periwinkle Way. It was one of few vehicles that were operable after the storm, so Sanibel Police asked if they could use her Toyota RAV4 for rescue efforts, Smith said.

“Almost everybody we talked to had lost their house,” Smith said.

Christine Heffern, 56, who works at Whitney’s Bait and Tackle on Periwinkle Way, along with Smith, Wider and several others, took shelter at the bait shop owner’s three-story house during the worst of the storm, they said. Water eventually reached the second story of the home.

“Listening to that howl and not knowing how long … It just howled and howled and howled,” Heffern said.

Wider was updating people by phone from the marina parking lot after getting off the island.

“We’re alive,” he answered one call.

Robert Leisure, owner of Getaway Marina at Pelican Bay, arrived at his business on San Carlos Boulevard in Fort Myers Beach Thursday to find it essentially unrecognizable.

The two-story, 50-year-old building that used to house a bait shop, retail and gift shop, two offices, two apartments and a newly built coffee shop that hadn’t yet opened its doors was relegated to only the bare wooden structure of the first floor. The inside was filled with debris to the point of looking like “a bomb went off,” he said. Tanks where the bait shop used to be were among the few discernable items inside.

The building had been submerged at one point, so much so that a boat floating in the storm surge punctured a window on the second floor of the building before it was swept away, he said.

Where a row of docks once stood, an island of plywood and debris pooled against the concrete wall. Unsalvageable everyday household belongings — a couch, a mattress, a suitcase, a pillow, a family photo of two women embracing on a sunny beach — stuck out among the pulverized wood and buildings in the water and parking lot of Leisure’s business.

“This is my first look … I thought maybe the building would still be there and some of the docks would be gone. I didn’t expect it to be total annihilated,” he said.

There is no trace of the two staircases that once attached to both sides of his building, leading up to the second floor. A 50-foot-long tiki hut, his boat, nearly all the things that make up Leisure’s business, were carried out with Ian’s unforgiving waters. What little recognizable things remain, Leisure said he doesn’t know what to do with.

“As far as rebuilding, I have no idea what I’m going to do,” he said.

Leisure said during the storm his neighborhood about 5 miles away in Crown Colony Golf & Country Club was under 4 to 5 feet of water, resulting in flooded garages and storm surges that increased the lakes’ water levels “so high it looked like the ocean.” He was stuck inside his home until Thursday once waters had receded.

“It was like in the movies,” he said.

His daughter called him as he stood near the water, in awe of the hellish destruction where he stood.

“This place is gone. There’s no reason to come, hon’. There’s nothing here,” he said to his daughter on the phone.

‘First time I’ve lost everything’

Some of the first signs of the historic destruction left by Hurricane Ian were evident on Interstate-75 near Golden Gate, about 40 miles south of Fort Myers Thursday morning as at least 50 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission vehicles towed airboats and other watercraft, ATVs and mobile generators and portable bathrooms.

On Thursday afternoon, many residents set out on foot at the corner of Davis Road and McGregor Boulevard in Iona, an unincorporated area of Lee County, to walk down flooded Davis Road back to the homes that they fled earlier in the week. With water rising about knee-high in the deepest parts, people made the trek, pulling kayaks with their pets aboard.

Michele Reidy, her daughter, son, and two grandchildren evacuated from their first- and second-floor apartments on Pine Needle Lane to a hotel in Fort Myers late Wednesday morning ahead of the brunt of the hurricane reaching Lee County. Reidy and her family came back to their neighborhood Thursday morning to rescue Reidy’s two cats, Mimi and Harpo, and were dragging them inside their cat carriers placed safely inside an inflatable kayak.

Reidy said she’s lived in the area for nearly 30 years and not seen damage this extensive.

“This is the first time that I’ve ever lost everything,” she said.

Even the kitchen cabinets in her daughter’s first-floor apartment are gone, she said. Marks inside the apartments showed stagnant water had been sitting at least 6 feet deep.

Becky Schoedel walked to the safe-haven corner of Davis Road and McGregor Boulevard with nothing. She hugged her daughter, who waited there with her young son and husband.

Ian was the first hurricane for Schoedel, who moved to Florida from Pennsylvania a year ago. She evacuated to stay with her daughter and son-in-law in north Fort Myers Tuesday morning. Her villa was in chaos when she returned to see the aftermath for the first time.

“Everything inside is trashed. Upheaved, on top of things that only an ape could lift. It was really sickening. I had to leave,” she said. “I couldn’t even stay in there. It was breaking my heart.”

She walked down the road with water up to her knees.

Noah Warrick, 35, has lived on Heald Lane since 2014. He evacuated with his 7-year-old son Tuesday to a hotel in Naples.

“This was my first trip to see that my home is no longer livable,” he said. He’s in between jobs after working as a truck driver for 10 years and is now left with the immense task of finding a new home for his family.

“The first thing I noticed was the sludge on the floor,” he said. “It smelled like fecal matter.”

As Warrick stood on the corner, a small baby alligator swam alongside debris littering the water.

‘This was terrible’

Jonathan Strong, a Cape Coral resident who said he formerly worked in law enforcement for two years in Florida and as a volunteer firefighter in Virginia for six years, was among the volunteers helping with rescues in Iona.

“I can’t just sit around while my house is intact and let other people suffer. It’s what we do. Community helping community,” he said.

Cassandra Fitzgerald and her husband Kyle Fitzgerald, who live in Citrus County, volunteered for the first time with Cajun Navy Relief, a nonprofit that has deployed volunteers to natural disaster sites. They arrived at a mobile home community in north Fort Myers near Tamiami Trail about 4 a.m. to start rescue operations.

Cassandra said several people they rescued needed to be hospitalized. She drove one woman to Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers after Lee Memorial officials said the hospital was closed.

“This morning we had a veteran that was stuck in his house pretty much chair-bound on oxygen,” Kyle said. “He spent the last 24 hours in there basically sitting on top of his sink. [Water] was four feet into his house.”

The Fitzgeralds said they rescued an elderly woman in the same mobile home park who stayed home during the storm by herself; a neighbor found her floating through the flooded street.

“Shock. Disbelief. Most of them are just grateful that somebody showed up,” Kyle Fitzgerald said.

“Fortunately for us we’ve never really had to deal with anything catastrophic and finally we’re just in a position where we can offer some assistance,” Kyle said about why they volunteered.

Residents who live near the Centennial Park at Fort Myers Wharf trickled into the waterfront park on the Caloosahatchee River about 10 a.m., taking pictures and videos of the destruction .

Rising waters and strong winds shoved a floating concrete dock and cement railing that lined the edge of the park about 100 yards inland. Boats of all sizes near a Joe’s Crab Shack had flipped onto their sides, overturned or were nearly completely swallowed by the river. Several were pushed onto land, stacked on top of each other and crushed into unrecognizable parts.

Glynn Rivers, a resident of Fort Myers since 2000, and her son Max Garramone walked along the waterfront assessing the damage. Rivers said she waited out Hurricane Charley and Hurricane Irma in Fort Myers before. But Ian was a much different experience for her, she said.

Despite living off of McGregor Boulevard, an area that was included in an evacuation zone, she stayed.

“For Charley we were new, so I was a little inexperienced. Irma wasn’t bad, but this was terrible, really for 20 hours. There were waves rolling up our street. I’m lucky that my house didn’t get flooded,” she said.

Rivers said her previous home on the same road closer to the water was destroyed. The windows are gone, rising waters flooded at least 2 feet into the home, dragging furniture away and docks are now parked in peoples’ yards, she said.

Rivers said her daughter works at Gulf Coast hospital and will be there until Saturday; at the hospital, the showers, toilets and sinks are inoperable.

Chris Ulm, who moved to Fort Myers four years ago from Indiana, said he watched the rising waters from his second-story apartment window at Triton Cay on First Street near the riverfront park, second-guessing the decision not to evacuate.

“When we woke up Wednesday morning and realized the path had changed and probably coming directly for us … Did we make the right call?” Ulm said. “It was too late to get on the road …”

Angie DiMichele can be reached at [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter @angdimi

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What Hurricane Ian Destroyed in a Florida Beach Town

By Bedel Saget ,  Marco Hernandez ,  Malika Khurana ,  Zach Levitt ,  Eleanor Lutz and Albert Sun Oct. 1, 2022

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FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — This barrier island on the southwestern coast of Florida sustained extensive damage when Hurricane Ian made landfall on Wednesday just 22 miles to the north.

Debris littered the beaches, boats washed ashore and some buildings vanished completely. Smaller buildings were carried away by floodwaters and deposited elsewhere. Some buildings remained standing, but their entire first floors were destroyed.

In a survey of photographs and videos from the northern half of the island, The Times identified nearly 400 buildings, shown on the map below, that were visibly destroyed or severely damaged.

Buildings visibly destroyed or severely damaged

Ian’s

ESTERO BLVD.

restaurants

swept away.

center with

damaged roof.

Beachfront shops

FORT MYERS BEACH

Mobile homes

strewn in heaps.

homes swept

ESTERO BAY PRESERVE

Fort Myers Beach

The damage identified above is just a fraction of the destruction wrought by the storm across all of Fort Myers Beach and the swath of the central Florida coast that was ripped apart by Hurricane Ian. But it provides a window into the devastating power of the storm.

Ray Murphy, the mayor of Fort Myers Beach, shared a video message on Friday from the beach amid the wreckage: “We took a real bad shot. A real hard hit. There’s a lot of devastation down here.”

Many of the bayside homes north of Estero Boulevard, the island’s main thoroughfare, appeared mostly intact, but at least two mobile home communities had been wiped out.

northern half of

Gulf of Mexico

Larger buildings were

still standing.

Smaller buildings

were swept away.

MATANZAS CT.

Larger buildings

were still standing.

Trailers from a mobile home community were uprooted.

The main commercial area, nicknamed “Times Square”, a bustling plaza of restaurants, bars and shops, was almost completely leveled. The first floors of buildings that remained standing were gutted.

Across the street, the new 254-room Margaritaville Beach Resort had been scheduled to open in 2023 . In a Facebook post on Thursday evening , the team building the resort said it would “not be deterred by this catastrophe of biblical proportions.”

Next to the Lani Kai Island Resort, the bright blue building shown in the video above, all that remained of Shucker’s, a seafood restaurant, and the Cottage Bar, an old local hangout, were bare foundations covered in muck. Other nearby buildings had been demolished.

Christina Thomaison, front desk manager of the Lani Kai, said she saw water from the storm surge rise as high as two stories. After evacuating guests, she and about 30 other employees and family members braved the storm from the second floor of the building – technically the third story because the resort stands on stilts. “We saw everything get swept away,” she said.

Palermo Circle

Shucker’s and the

Cottage Bar

Island Resort

Roads were covered in debris and sand.

Farther from the beach on the other side of Estero Boulevard, most buildings appeared to remain standing. The structure of a 7-Eleven was still intact, but the interior had been swept away.

The Whale, the colorful blue-and-orange seafood restaurant shown below, had crumpled and fallen over. It had been a popular place for both the ocean view and its homemade food.

Along the beachfront, most smaller houses and the structures closest to the water had been swept away entirely, leaving only foundations or pilings behind. Larger, more solidly built buildings had been more likely to survive.

“Older homes, that just aren’t as strongly built, they got washed into the sea,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a press conference. “That is something that I think would be very difficult to be survivable.”

All that remains of this

multimillion-dollar

house is the pool.

Sandpiper Gulf Resort

... and deposited

across the street.

These buildings were

swept off their

foundations ...

The Silver Witch, a jewelry and gift shop that was located on the street in the video below, had been in business there for more than 40 years. After Hurricane Ian hit, the entire building had washed away.

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Photography

Photos: Ian leaves path of destruction

By Washington Post Staff | Sep 30, 2022

The death toll from Tropical Storm Ian remained unclear early Thursday after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said it brought “historic” damage to the state, hours after President Biden approved a major disaster declaration for Florida amid what the National Hurricane Center described as “catastrophic flooding” over east and central parts of the state.

Wilfredo Lee/AP

“We’ve never seen a flood event like this,” DeSantis said.

A man walks through floodwaters in Orlando following Hurricane Ian.

EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

A submerged Corvette sits in flood waters in Orlando.

Gary Bogdon/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Drivers line up to buy gasoline in Port Charlotte.

Win McNamee

A couple arrive at their business office in Cape Coral to check for damage.

Marco Bello/Reuters

Volunteers with the Metropolitan Ministries World Central kitchen prepare sandwiches that will go to Hurricane Ian survivors, in Tampa.

Chris O'meara/AP

A home flooded by Hurricane Ian in Naples.

Courtesy of Heather Donlan

A family gathers in a flooded parking lot outside their neighborhood in New Smyrna Beach.

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

An aerial view of flooding in the wake of Hurricane Ian in Ft Myers.

The pavement near the causeway to Sanibel, Fla., is damaged by a storm surge from Ian.

Tampa Bay Times/AP

A section of the causeway leading to Sanibel was knocked out by Ian.

A spiral staircase lies in the brush next to a white pickup near the Sanibel Causeway.

Storm-damaged businesses in downtown Fort Myers, Fla.

Water levels recede toward normal in Tampa.

Ted Richardson/For The Washington Post

Vehicles make their way through a flooded area of Fort Myers after Ian passed through the area.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Boats are pushed up on a causeway in Fort Myers after Ian passed through.

Flooding and storm damage in Fort Myers.

Thomas Simonetti/For The Washington Post

Firefighters in Florida's Orange County help people stranded by the storm.

Orange County Fire Rescue's Public Information Office/AP

Authorities transport a person out of the Avante nursing home, in Orlando.

John Raoux/AP

People embrace as they survey property damage from Hurricane Ian in Bonita Springs, Fla.

Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Stedi Scuderi looks over her flood-damaged Fort Myers apartment.

Damage is seen in the wake of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers.

Streets signs are down in the aftermath of Ian in Punta Gorda, Fla.

Ricardo Arduengo/AFP/Getty Images

A man walks through debris on a street in Punta Gorda.

A stoplight pole blown down by storm winds rests on Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando.

Willie J. Allen Jr./AP

A partly submerged vehicle in a flooded downtown Orlando.

An Orange County Fire and Rescue first responder makes her way through floodwaters in Orlando looking for local residents in need of help.

Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP

People look at property damage along a beach in Bonita Springs.

A partially collapsed section of the Sanibel Causeway in Fort Myers.

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Damage is seen in Fort Myers.

Jake Moses, 19, left, and Heather Jones, 18, walk through a section of destroyed businesses in Fort Myers Beach.

Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/AP

Damaged homes and debris in Fort Myers Beach.

Heavily damaged manufactured homes in North Port, Fla.

Octavio Jones for The Washington Post

A damaged mobile home in Venice, Fla.

Smoldering Fort Myers homes in the aftermath of Ian.

A Lee County home ablaze and inundated after Ian tore through the area with howling winds, torrential rains and raging surf, causing massive power outages.

Handout/Reuters

The storm surge flung a boat atop a vehicle in Fort Myers Beach.

Ted Richardson for The Washington Post

Derek and Ciara Deshane seek water, food and shelter while walking with their daughters Spirit, 6, and Callie, 2, and dog, Angel, in Fort Myers Beach.

Kathy Cook, right, and her family survey the damage to, and collect items from, her RV that was toppled in the storm at the Creek Side RV Resort in Punta Gorda.

Ryker Fous, 11, hauls tree limbs off his family’s lawn in Fort Myers.

Livestock navigate a flooded field on Sanibel Island.

Motorists drive along a flooded street in Fort Myers.

Marta Lavandier/AP

Washed-up boats and destruction at Fort Myers Beach.

Damaged airplanes and hangars at the Punta Gorda Airport.

Gerald Herbert/AP

A downed and damaged McDonald's sign in Venice.

Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg

Robert Leisure surveys the wreckage of his business, Getaway Marina, in Fort Myers Beach.

Rebecca Blackwell/AP

Debris is piled up at the end of a cove in Barefoot Beach.

People kayak on floodwaters in Fort Myers Beach.

A view of the Davis Island Yacht Club overlooking Tampa Bay.

High surf hits the beaches before dawn at the Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier.

USA Today Network/Reuters

Lew Hendrix collects palm branches blown down by the outer bands of Hurricane Ian in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa.

A TV crew broadcasts from the beach in Fort Myers ahead of Hurricane Ian.

A man walks away from the beach ahead of Ian in Fort Myers.

Traffic lights in Fort Myers are swayed by strong gusts of wind ahead of Hurricane Ian.

Wind blows palm trees ahead of Hurricane Ian in Charlotte Harbor, Fla.

“My mom wants me home at 1 o’clock,” said 17-year-old Alston Barrow, who took advantage of an unusually low tide on the Hillsborough River to fish as Hurricane Ian approached in Tampa.

People play in the surf through the rain on Cocoa Beach.

Scott Houston and Dana Sardinas brave the wind and rain as Hurricane Ian approaches Tampa.

Crystal Carithers tries to stay dry beneath a shelter at DeSoto Park in Tampa.

Peter Currin documents the weather at Sarasota Bay as a gust of wind blows leaves and debris around.

Wind gusts blow debris across the John Ringling Causeway in Sarasota.

This satellite image, courtesy of the U.S. Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch, shows Ian's eye making landfall near Cayo Costa.

Agustin Paullier/RAMMB/AFP/Getty Images

A boat rocks on the waves of the Gulf of Mexico in Dunedin.

Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images

A Naples firefighter carries gear in water from the storm surge.

Naples Fire Department/AP

People use a flashlight while walking through a hallway during a power outage in Fort Myers as the storm makes landfall.

Brent Shaynore runs to a sheltered spot through the wind and rain in Sarasota.

Wind and rain pick up in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa.

AFP/Getty Images

A sign was blown down as the eye of storm passed by Punta Gorda.

Fallen trees and debris lie across a parking lot in Fort Myers.

Downed palm branches litter a road in downtown Tampa.

FROM LEFT: Hilton employees Louie Fonseca, Frankie Monica, Bryan Kinbacher and Jaime Miranda use rope to secure the front door at the Hilton Garden Inn in Fort Myers, Fla.

An uprooted tree, toppled by strong winds from the outer bands of Hurricane Ian, rests in the parking lot of a shopping center in Cooper City, Fla.

Bill Bravato’s dog Ryder gets tangled in her rain jacket while Bravato hurries a walk with Ryder and Togo as the outer bands of Hurricane Ian arrive in Tampa.

Pets take shelter in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Ian at Erwin Technical College, a pet-friendly shelter for people with special needs, in Tampa.

Win Mcnamee/Getty Images

An airplane overturned by a likely tornado produced by the outer bands of Hurricane Ian at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, Fla.

City employee Martin Lisi carries a snapped-off stop sign to his truck in Hollywood, Fla.

Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/AP

Gary and Sharon Adams clear their yard of debris in Hollywood, Fla.

Zuram Rodriguez surveys the damage around her mobile home in Davie, Fla.

Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/AP

Ivan Mendoza begins to repair damage to his mobile home in Davie, Fla.

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Storm re-intensifies as it aims for South Carolina after ‘historic’ damage to Florida

The scene in Florida as residents prepare for Hurricane Ian

The latest from The Washington Post

Photo editing and production by Troy Witcher and Stephen Cook

Ian leaves coast-to-coast flooding in Florida, takes aim at South Carolina

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Rescue crews piloted boats and waded through inundated streets Thursday to save thousands of Floridians trapped amid flooded homes and shattered buildings left by Hurricane Ian, which crossed into the Atlantic Ocean and churned toward South Carolina.

Hours after weakening to a tropical storm while crossing the Florida peninsula, Ian regained hurricane strength Thursday evening over the Atlantic. The National Hurricane Center predicted it would hit South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane Friday.

The devastation inflicted on Florida came into focus a day after Ian struck as a monstrous Category 4 hurricane, one of the strongest storms ever to hit the U.S. It flooded homes on both the state’s coasts, cut off the only road access to a barrier island, destroyed a historic waterfront pier and knocked out electricity to 2.67 million Florida homes and businesses — nearly a quarter of utility customers.

Four people were confirmed dead in Florida. They included two residents of hard-hit Sanibel Island along Florida’s west coast, Sanibel City Manager Dana Souza said late Thursday. Three other people were reported killed in Cuba after the hurricane struck there on Tuesday.

In the Fort Myers area , homes had been ripped from their slabs and deposited among shredded wreckage. Businesses near the beach were completely razed, leaving twisted debris. Broken docks floated at odd angles beside damaged boats and fires smoldered on lots where houses once stood.

“I don’t know how anyone could have survived in there,” William Goodison said amid the wreckage of the mobile home park in Fort Myers Beach where he’d lived for 11 years. Goodison rode out the storm at his son’s house inland.

The hurricane tore through the park of about 60 homes, many of them destroyed or mangled beyond repair, including Goodison’s single-wide home. Wading through waist-deep water, Goodison and his son wheeled two trash cans containing what little he could salvage — a portable air conditioner, some tools and a baseball bat.

The road into Fort Myers was littered with broken trees, boat trailers and other debris. Cars were left abandoned in the road, having stalled when the storm surge flooded their engines.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at least 700 rescues, mostly by air, have been conducted so far, involving the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Guard and urban search-and-rescue teams.

“We’ve never seen storm surge of this magnitude,” DeSantis said at a news conference. “The amount of water that’s been rising, and will likely continue to rise today even as the storm is passing, is basically a 500-year flooding event.”

After leaving Florida as a tropical storm Thursday and entering the Atlantic north of Cape Canaveral, Ian spun up into a hurricane again with winds of 75 mph.

A hurricane warning was issued for the South Carolina coast and extended to Cape Fear on the southeastern coast of North Carolina. With tropical-storm-force winds reaching about 415 miles from its center, Ian was forecast to shove storm surge of 5 feet into coastal areas in Georgia and the Carolinas. Rainfall of up to 8 inches threatened flooding from South Carolina to Virginia.

National Guard troops were being positioned in South Carolina to help with the aftermath, including any water rescues. On Thursday afternoon, a steady stream of vehicles left Charleston, a 350-year-old city.

Sheriffs in southwest Florida said 911 centers were inundated by thousands of stranded callers, some with life-threatening emergencies. The U.S. Coast Guard began rescue efforts hours before daybreak on barrier islands near where Ian struck, DeSantis said. More than 800 federal urban search-and-rescue workers were also in the area.

In the Orlando area, Orange County firefighters used boats to reach people in a flooded neighborhood. Patients from a nursing home were carried on stretchers across floodwaters to a bus.

In Fort Myers, Valerie Bartley’s family spent desperate hours holding a dining room table against the patio door, fearing the storm “was tearing our house apart.”

World & Nation

Photos: Damage and destruction from Hurricane Ian

Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida on Wednesday as a catastrophic Category 4 storm.

Sept. 30, 2022

“I was terrified,” Bartley said. “What we heard was the shingles and debris from everything in the neighborhood hitting our house.”

The storm ripped away patio screens and snapped a palm tree in the yard, Bartley said, but left the roof intact and her family unharmed.

Long lines formed at gas stations in Fort Myers, and a Home Depot opened, letting in a few customers at a time.

The world has never seen a Category 6 hurricane. But the day may be coming

As a ferocious hurricane bears down on South Florida, water managers desperately lower canals in anticipation of 4 feet of rain.

July 7, 2018

Frank Pino was near the back of the line, with about 100 people in front of him.

“I hope they leave something,” Pino said, “because I need almost everything.”

A 72-year-old man in Deltona died after falling into a canal while using a hose to drain his pool in the heavy rain, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said. A 38-year-old man from Lake County died Wednesday after his vehicle hydroplaned, according to authorities.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said his office was scrambling to respond to thousands of 911 calls in the Fort Myers area, but many roads and bridges were impassable.

Emergency crews sawed through toppled trees to reach stranded people. Many in the hardest-hit areas were unable to call for help because of electrical and cellular outages.

A chunk of the Sanibel Causeway fell into the sea, cutting off access to the barrier island where 6,300 people live.

No deaths or injuries have been confirmed in the surrounding county, and flyovers of barrier islands show “the integrity of the homes is far better than we anticipated,” said county Emergency Management Director Patrick Fuller.

South of Sanibel Island, the historic beachfront pier in Naples was destroyed, with the pilings torn out.

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In Port Charlotte, a hospital’s emergency room flooded and fierce winds ripped away part of the roof, sending water gushing into the intensive care unit. The sickest patients — some on ventilators — were crowded into the middle two floors as the staff prepared for storm victims to arrive, said Dr. Birgit Bodine of HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital.

Ian struck Florida with 150-mph winds that tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane ever to hit the U.S.

While scientists generally avoid blaming climate change for specific storms without detailed analysis, Ian’s watery destruction fits what scientists have predicted for a warmer world: stronger and wetter hurricanes, though not necessarily more of them.

“This business about very, very heavy rain is something we’ve expected to see because of climate change,” said MIT atmospheric scientist Kerry Emanuel. “We’ll see more storms like Ian.”

Associated Press contributors include Terry Spencer and Tim Reynolds in Fort Myers, Cody Jackson in Tampa, Freida Frisaro in Miami, Mike Schneider in Orlando, Seth Borenstein in Washington and Bobby Caina Calvan in New York.

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Hurricane Ian aftermath: Tour of damage shows parts of Naples look like "a war zone"

In a drive around the city, Naples Police Lieutenant Bryan McGinn pointed to some of the worst and costliest damage caused by Hurricane Ian .

On Friday, he whizzed around the city streets, as much as he could, driving through sludge, stopping at every dark traffic light and dodging clean-up and repair crews — and a slew of curious onlookers wanting to see the destruction for themselves.

One of the worst-hit areas by the Category 4 storm? Gulf Shore Boulevard North — where the water had finally receded enough to have a better look at Ian's wrath . 

Sludge still filled much of the road, patio furniture lay tangled in the median, cars sat angled in front of condos, a sign of the powerful, unexpected surge that put them completely under water. A crooked boat sat in a parking lot, moved from its perch, with another halfway submerged in waters nearby.

Video: Hurricane Ian in North Naples

Assessing the damage: Aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Naples and Collier County in Florida

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Residents had started the clean-up, dragging everything from drenched carpet to soaked couches to the curb. Along with a snarl of landscaping.

Clearly, there's much more work to be done in the Moorings, Park Shore and elsewhere in the city. With gobs of debris started to make it to the curb.

Boats uplifted from their docks

At the Village Shops on Venetian Bay, business owners worked to deal with the mess, a stranded boat sat in the parking lot, with no name on it.

"Unfortunately, there was a lot of water surging," McGinn said. "That storm came in real fast."

It wasn't just water that roared onto the shore in the city. It was loads of sand and sediment from the Gulf of Mexico and Naples Bay, which did plenty of damage of its own.

Ian's impact: Hurricane Ian causes flood damage in Naples and heavily damages Naples Pier

Naples mayor: Rebuilding from Hurricane Ian is going to 'take time'

That sand and sediment turned into a slippery, sticky muck that covered city streets — and the insides of homes and businesses. Some have complained about its stench.

During the tour, McGinn pointed to an extra-wide, steel mobile mini storage container sitting near the intersection of 8th Street South and Broad Avenue, feet from the Cove Inn On Naples Bay, that mysteriously appeared there, likely from a construction site nearby, taking up the entire corner.

"That storage container doesn't belong there," he said.

Its weight is in the thousands of pounds, showing the power of the surge.

In Crayton Cove, McGinn took a turn toward the City Dock, rebuilt a few years ago at a cost of $7 million. He happily reported it fared well.

Businesses are picking up the pieces

Nearby businesses, however, weren't as lucky, including The Dock, a Naples landmark. It's still standing, but crews worked busily to clean up its insides, which clearly saw a heavy impact from the storm surge. 

Across the way, Napoli On The Bay, didn't look so good either, with a water line stain halfway up the door.

Hurricane Ian : 'Very difficult time' as it will take weeks to assess Bonita Springs damage

"Pretty unbelievable," McGinn said.

On Third Avenue South downtown, store owners scrambled to pick up the pieces. Chain saws roared, vacuum trucks rumbled as they sucked out water, and power washers echoed, as owners, employees and hired contractors worked to wash down all the sediment left behind on everything from parking lots to plant pots.

Water stains again showed just how high the water got. 

Some business owners have lost virtually everything.

On Third Street and nearby Fifth Avenue South, shops, restaurants and other businesses have scrambled to reopen, if possible. 

"Fortunately, our city is resilient," McGinn said. "So, many business owners are making a push. They want to be able to help people. That's what they do." 

As soon as it could, Liki Tiki, the local “Tiki Bar” and classic BBQ restaurant on U.S. 41, reopened on Thursday, serving drinks only — because that's all it could do.

"It was packed," McGinn said. "It's a good sight to see. It's good camaraderie."

Port Royal may have fared better than others

In Port Royal, known as one of the priciest neighborhoods in America, the damage didn't seem as great. Signs of water intrusion were harder to spot, but landscaping took a hit, with a near-constant buzz of chain saws. 

"A lot of these are new construction homes," McGinn said. "So, maybe they did fare a little better." 

The Port Royal Club sustained damage.

Closer to the coast, surging waters forced some residents to their roofs, for higher ground, to wait out rescue crews.

"I'm sure there were lives lost," McGinn said. "But we won't know how many for some time. It's hard to tell."

Some of the stranded cars still spotted around the city, he said, are the result of residents driving around during the storm, failing to heed warnings. They had to walk or swim away, abandoning their vehicles, McGinn said.

"People were still out and about, not listening to shelter in place," he said, or evacuation orders.

After the storm, vehicles blocking streets were taken to Baker Park, but eventually, the city ran out parking spaces for them.

Mansions on the Gulf could have seen extensive damage

On Gordon Drive, it's hard to tell how much damage multimillion-dollar mansions sitting directly on the Gulf of Mexico took, but McGinn said the water and sand likely did a lot of damage to them.

Parts of Gordon Drive were still blocked on Friday, with piles of sand dropped by Ian still in the road.

Much of the city saw flooding. 

"Even areas like Lake Park had several feet of water in their homes," McGinn said, after the Gordon River flooded.

The Naples Pier is heavily damaged, but not destroyed. 

"It's sad," McGinn said.

While beach ends, or public access points, haven't reopened, residents and visitors alike have flocked to them, to see the damages with their own eyes shooting photos and videos to document the storm. 

"This is how well people listen," McGinn said. "I get it. Everybody wants to see how the city of Naples fared. It all comes from a good place."

At the Horizon Way beach access in Park Shore, he pointed to what looked like structural damage at St. Croix Club condominiums, but it was hard to determine the extent of it.

"That's no bueno," McGinn said.

Parts of Naples look like a "war zone"

In the Moorings area, Regency Towers looked like it took a heavy hit too — along with other condos and homes.

"It looks like a war zone up here," McGinn said.

While water wiped out the contents of condos, homes and businesses, he said, structural damage might not be extensive since winds weren't as extreme as with past storms.

"Their personal property is gone," McGinn said. "But they can be replaced over time."

Looking over all the damage in Naples, it's hard to fathom how bad others had it just one county over, McGinn said. 

"What's crazy is we are not even the hardest hit area," he said. 

NOAA maps show street-by-street views of Hurricane Ian's destruction

Thursday's view of a marina in downtown Fort Myers, contrasted with a photo from before Hurricane Ian. (NOAA)

We’ve already seen the frightening scenes that Hurricane Ian brought to southwest Florida , but the full extent of the storm’s impact is becoming more detailed now that the federal government is publishing aerial photos taken during recent survey flights. 

Imagery posted on an interactive map was taken by NOAA’s Remote Sensing Division "to support homeland security and emergency response needs" after the storm.  The photos – taken during long sweeps by the agency's Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350CER plane starting on Thursday – cover a 50-mile swath from Cayo Costa, where the storm’s eye made landfall, down to Sanibel and then up the Caloosahatchee River to Fort Myers.

A second 15-mile stretch covers the coast west of Cape Coral.

LINK: See NOAA's damage map

AFTER: The Sanibel Causeway (NOAA)

One of the most obvious features visible in the photos is the destruction of the Sanibel Causeway . Two sections of the span are entirely gone, but the imagery also shows just much sand and debris is covering what remains of the causeway.

Further west, many resorts and homes along Captiva Island appear to be inundated with sand and water, while some boats can be seen up along the shore.

AFTER: Middle Gulf Drive beach in Sanibel. (NOAA)

Photos show the Sanibel Lighthouse is still standing, though it’s not yet clear if it was damaged.

Up the Caloosahatchee, damage to Fort Myers is clear. Boats in the Legacy Harbor Marina were tossed ashore; the nearby City Yacht Basin fared slightly better.

AFTER: The Legacy Harbour Marina (NOAA)

NOAA says the website will be updated as more flights take place.

RELATED: Beloved Bubble Room on Captiva Island is still standing, satellite image shows, but extent of damage unknown

Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday as a powerful Category 4 storm with 150-mph winds and a 12-foot storm surge. Several deaths have been blamed on the storm and rescues are still taking place.

Ian has regained hurricane strength in the Atlantic and is expected to make a second landfall Friday night in South Carolina .

AFTER: The Blind Pass area (NOAA)

NOAA’s interactive damage map can be found at https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/ian/index.html .  Note that it may be easier to navigate the site from a desktop computer instead of a mobile device. More details:  https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov /

This story was reported from Tampa, Fla.

Ian Expected to Become Major Hurricane as It Nears Cuba

Hurricane warning issued for florida's west coast from englewood to the anclote river, including tampa bay, by nbc 6 • published september 26, 2022 • updated on september 27, 2022 at 4:09 am.

Evacuations were underway along Florida's Gulf Coast Monday as Hurricane Ian formed and was quickly intensifying and expected to become a dangerous Category 4 hurricane before possible landfall later in the week.

Ian's maximum sustained winds increased to 115 mph as it moved north-northwest at 13 mph about 150 miles southeast of the western tip of Cuba, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Monday.

Forecasters said Ian will likely become a major hurricane by the time it reaches western Cuba overnight Monday or early Tuesday. Ian is forecast to reach its peak intensity as a Category 4 hurricane over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico before expected landfall in Florida.

Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.

"Obviously at this point, we want everyone to be safe, you have a significant storm that may end up being a Category 4 hurricane," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Monday.

A hurricane warning was issued Monday for Florida's west coast from Englewood to the Anclote River, including Tampa Bay, and the Dry Tortugas. A hurricane watch was issued from the Anclote River to the Suwannee River and from Bonita Beach to Englewood.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the lower Florida Keys from Seven Mile Bridge westward to Key West, and from Flamingo to Englewood. A tropical storm watch was in effect for Florida Keys from Seven Mile Bridge to the Channel 5 Bridge, Lake Okeechobee, north of the Suwannee River to Indian Pass, and Jupiter Inlet to Altamaha Sound.

A storm surge warning was in effect for Tampa Bay and the Anclote River southward to Flamingo. A storm surge watch was also issued for the Florida Keys from the Card Sound Bridge westward to Key West, including the Dry Tortugas, Florida Bay, the Aucilla River to Anclote River, Altamaha Sound to the Flagler/Volusia County Line, and the Saint Johns River.

Flash flooding and urban flooding was possible with rainfall across the Florida Keys and the Florida peninsula through mid-week, NHC forecasters said. A few tornadoes are possible late Monday night and into Tuesday across the Florida Keys and the southern and central Florida peninsula.

“Please treat this storm seriously. It’s the real deal. This is not a drill,” Hillsborough County Emergency Management Director Timothy Dudley said at a Monday news conference on storm preparations in Tampa.

As many as 300,000 people may be evacuated from low-lying areas in Hillsborough County alone, county administrator Bonnie Wise said at a news conference.

Some of those evacuations were beginning Monday afternoon in the most vulnerable areas, with schools and other locations opening as shelters. “We must do everything we can to protect our residents. Time is of the essence,” Wise said.

Along with 9-14 feet of storm surge across western #Cuba , we could see up to 16" of rain in some spots. Rainfall could hit 10-15" across portions of #Florida as well. Stay with @nbc6 https://t.co/PKdbgxwLAa pic.twitter.com/O4QfvQFCMD — Adam Berg (@AdamBergNBC6) September 26, 2022

A hurricane warning was issued for the Cuban provinces of Isla de Juventud, Pinar del Rio, and Artemisa. A tropical storm warning was issued for the Cuban provinces of La Habana, Mayabeque, and Matanzas.

Authorities in Cuba suspended classes in Pinar del Rio province and planned evacuations Monday as Ian gained strength on approach to Grand Cayman and the Cuban provinces of Isla de Juventud, Pinar del Rio and Artemisa. Cuba also was shutting down its train system ahead of the worst weather.

“Cuba is expecting extreme hurricane force winds, also life-threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall,” U.S. National Hurricane Center senior specialist Daniel Brown told The Associated Press early Monday.

On the forecast track, the center of Ian was expected to pass near or west of the Cayman Islands Monday. Ian will then move near or over western Cuba Monday night and early Tuesday and emerge over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday.

Ian is then expected to move on a path to the Gulf Coast of Florida, with the center staying to the west of the Florida Keys, according to the latest advisory.

There was increasing confidence that life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds over portions of western Cuba could occur beginning late Monday. Up to 16 inches of rain could fall in parts of Cuba, according to the NHC.

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Monroe County Emergency Management was working to advise residents on specific details about the impacts from Ian.

In order to assist residents, Monroe County Government offices are scheduled to be open on Monday. Authorities are asking people, both tourists and locals to continue keeping an eye on this storm.  Airports are also scheduled to be open and fully operational and schools are scheduled to be in session on Monday, a news release from the county said.

The main message officials are sending out right now is don’t lower your guard just yet. 

"We’re expecting the winds, definitely the winds and flooding," Lt. Lee Placido said.

DeSantis activated the state's National Guard on Sunday ahead of the storm's expected impact later in the week.

The governor's declaration frees up emergency protective funding to address potential damage from storm surge, flooding, dangerous winds and other weather conditions throughout the state.

  DeSantis expanded the declaration of a state of emergency  Saturday to include the entire state.

"It's important to point out to folks that the path of this is still uncertain. The impacts will be broad throughout the state of Florida," DeSantis said at a news conference Sunday. "So from the Tampa Bay area all the way up to Escambia County along Florida's Gulf Coast you could potentially see it make landfall in any of those places as of right now."

President Joe Biden has postponed a trip to South Florida next week due to Tropical Storm Ian, the White House announced Saturday.

Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state of Florida Saturday due to Ian, the White House said in a statement.

The declaration authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts resulting from Ian.

This article tagged under:

WATCH VIDEOS

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Haunting aerial images show Hurricane Ian's aftermath in Fort Myers, Sanibel Island

Ian's devastation came into focus a day after making landfall in Florida as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the U.S.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Ian's devastation began to come into focus a day after making landfall in Florida as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the U.S.

Click here for live radar and the latest forecast on Ian's path.

The storm flooded homes on both the state's coasts, cut off the only bridge to a barrier island, destroyed a historic waterfront pier and knocked out electricity to 2.67 million Florida homes and businesses. The death toll continues to rise.

Images from the Fort Myers area, a few miles west of where Ian struck land, showed homes ripped from their slabs and deposited among shredded wreckage. Businesses near the beach were completely razed, leaving just twisted debris. Broken docks floated at odd angles beside damaged boats, and fires smoldered on lots where houses once stood.

A chunk of the Sanibel Causeway fell into the sea, cutting off access to the barrier island where 6,300 people live. It was unknown how many heeded orders to evacuate, but Charlotte County Emergency Management Director Patrick Fuller expressed cautious optimism.

The aerial photos below capture the devastation from this monstrous Category 4 storm:

Fort Myers Beach

Sanibel Island

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related Topics

• TROPICAL STORM
• HURRICANE IAN
• TROPICAL WEATHER
• U.S. & WORLD
• STORM DAMAGE

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How bad was the golf course damage caused by Ian? New report provides details

The National Golf Foundation, located in Jupiter, Florida, published a story on Thursday with more details about the damage to golf courses in the Sunshine State and beyond from Hurricane Ian.

Hurricane Ian slammed Southwest Florida on Sept. 28 . Many have referred to this region as the "golf course capital of the world" with so many people choosing Naples and Fort Myers to visit or retire to because of all of the outstanding golf courses.

Southwest Florida is also home to high profile professional golf tournaments. The LPGA has its traditional season-ending tournament at the Ritz Carlton in Naples. The Shark Shootout is played annually in December at the Ritz Carlton. And the PGA Champions Tour has a regular stop in Naples every February.

Related:  Sanibel Island Golf Club takes a beating from Hurricane Ian

By the way: Was Ian the most expensive hurricane to hit Florida? 

Fort Myers Beach man saves neighbors from drowning as he and wife were in danger

According to the National Golf Foundation report, 1,119 golf facilities were impacted by Ian's wind and storm surge. That number represent 8% of the country’s overall golf courses.

Almost one in six of those were hit by hurricane strength winds and a number of those, particularly in and around the Fort Myers area, remain closed or partially so.

Sanibel course damaged: A hot tub on Sanibel's The Dunes 18th green? 

Topgolf impact: Topgolf's giant nets in Fort Myers are shredded

A look at The Dunes on Sanibel Island

One of those courses is The Dunes on Sanibel Island. PGA club professional Mike Dopslaff and his staff have been working tirelessly doing damage assessment and clean-up, pretty much as soon it was safe to return to the island.

Dopslaff can only access the island by boat because the causeway bridge connected to the mainland was breached in five places by Ian. A temporary fix has been made, allowing power companies and other officials to get on the island to start the recovery process.

In an email to The News-Press today (Friday), Dopslaff said his staff is "fired up" and doing a great job and making positive progress.

"t’s been slow going without any motorized equipment, power, running water, bathrooms etc.," Dopslaff said. "But we are making headway.  We have managed to remove all of the flooring from the clubhouse and remove all damaged equipment, food, office supplies etc."

He said the golf cart fleet took a beating.

"We pretty much have the cart facility cleaned out as far as carts go. No carts are viable and every single cart had frozen brakes from the salt water," Dopslaff said. "It was a process untangling the carts, pushing them away with locked up wheels and then breaking them loose so we could push them out into the parking lot."

Not too far from The Dunes is the Sanibel Island Golf Club, owned and operated by Drew Donnelly. Donnelly, like Dopslaff, has been getting a boat ride to Sanibel pretty much every day since the storm. He and his staff are still assessing total damage, including the irrigation system and equipment like the tri-plexes, the mowers used to cut the grass on the greens.

"We just put in new greens, unfortunately," said Donnelly, who is originally from Michigan and has been in Southwest Florida for 30 years. "They talk about storm surge every hurricane we get and it has never happened, so yes, I was shocked when I got to Sanibel. It looked way different on the ground than the aerial shots."

How people are helping after Hurricane Ian

Needless to say, the golf course industry in Southwest Florida is going to need some time and money to recovery, especially in the hardest hit areas.

And beyond the damage to courses, there have been heroic stories like Matt Oakley's. Oakley is the PGA club professional at Worthington County Club in Bonita Springs. He stayed on Fort Myers Beach during the hurricane with his wife. As they faced the danger of rising water from the surge, Oakley saved two neighbors from drowning.

In its damage assessment story, the National Golf Foundation points out that several industry associations have "risen to the occasion" to help:

• The Southwest chapter of the South Florida PGA reached out to every affected facility in the region and as many members as they could contact.
• PGA of America President Jim Richerson sent a communication reminding members about the PGA Medical and Disaster Relief Fund. Apply for relief here or call 800 474-2776 to make a contribution.
• The National Golf Course Owners Association and its members have kindly offered support, ready to assist the recovery of anyone operating a course damaged by the storm. Those seeking assistance should click here.
• Superintendents who need assistance should contact the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America’s Disaster Relief Fund.

Erik Matuszewski, Editorial Director for the National Golf Foundation, said in an email to The News-Press and Naples Daily News that the NGF is continuing to here from courses in Florida about damage caused by Ian.

"Beyond the Sanibel and Gasparilla courses (Boca Grande) hit hard, a few of the ones that we’ve heard of that suffered some significant damage included Kelly Greens, Lexington and Gulf Harbour," Matuszewski said. "I’m not sure of the extent of these at this point, as much of what we’ve been told is secondhand." 

One of the biggest concerns is the impact salt water that covered golf courses like The Dunes and Sanibel Island Golf Club will have on the turf.

"I know if they had Bermuda rather than salt-resistant paspalum, the damage from the brackish water was more significant," Matuszewski said. "For the most part, though, it seems that the majority of clubs in the area faced varying levels of cleanup efforts and some infrastructure or structural damage."

The community is set on the banks of the breathtaking Caloosahatchee River just off the historic McGregor Boulevard, West of U.S. 41. Residents enjoy white sand beaches that are just 5 miles away including Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Captiva Island. Gulf Harbour is conveniently located ten minutes from Lee Memorial Healthpark and 20 minutes from Southwest Florida International Airport.

Cultural recreation can be found at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, Broadway Palms Dinner Theater and Southwest Florida Symphony. Fort Myers Historical Museum offers an assortment of exhibits that document the history of Southwest Florida. Shopping is easily accessible as well with Coconut Point Mall, Bell Tower Park, Sun Harvest Citrus and much more. The combination between perfect location, luxurious homes, and social activities makes Gulf Harbour Yacht & Country Club one of the most desired communities in Southwest Florida.