Florida – One of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the United States, Hurricane Ian turned Florida streets into rivers, knocked out power for 1.8 million people, and caused catastrophic damage.
Here are some stories and scenes:
Sahel’s Sheriff’s Office reported that he was receiving numerous calls from people trapped in homes. The hurricane’s center hit near Cayo Costa, a sheltered barrier island west of densely populated Fort Myers.
Mark Pritchett climbed outside his Venice home just as the hurricane was lapping ashore from the Gulf of Mexico, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) to the south. He described it as “terrifying”.
“I literally can’t stand the wind,” Pritchett wrote in a text message. “The rain is shooting off like needles. Two streets are a river. The limbs and trees are falling. The worst is yet to come.”
News presenters at WINK TV station in Fort Myers had to abandon their usual offices and continue covering the storm from another location in their newsroom because water was flowing into their building near the Caloosahatchee River.
Jackson Boone left his home near the Gulf Coast and gathered at his law office in Venice with the staff and their pets. Boone at one point opened the door to howling wind and rain blowing sideways.
“We’re seeing tree damage, horizontal rain and very strong winds,” Boone said by phone. “We have an oak tree over 50 years old that has been overturned.”
In Naples, the first floor of the fire station was inundated with about 3 feet (1 meter) of water, and firefighters worked to rescue equipment from a firetruck stuck outside the garage in deep water, a video released by the Naples Fire Department showed.
Naples is in Collier County, where the mayor’s department on Facebook reported that it was receiving a “large number of calls to people trapped by water in their homes” and that it would prioritize reaching people “to report life-threatening medical emergencies in deep water.”
Dozens of passengers were stranded Wednesday at Orlando International Airport after their flights were canceled and the airport closed at mid-morning.
An airport employee went to groups of passengers, asking them to move to the dining hall, where they will be directed to buses that will take them to the shelters.
Aido Kone traveled to Clearwater for the weekend with his two daughters. When his flight from Tampa was canceled, Orlando tried. Now, stranded: “We came on a weekend trip, and now we’re stuck.”
At the Hilton Garden Inn in Fort Myers, guests — including some forced to evacuate their homes — sought refuge from the raging storm.
As of Wednesday morning, all 126 rooms are booked out, and people are still trying to find a room at the hotel, near Southwest Florida International Airport.
“There was a clear influx of refugees,” said Keri Collins, who works at the hotel’s front desk.
The hotel is in a flooded area and had to switch to a generator after a power outage.
“Anyone staying with us should sign a waiver saying we are not responsible for anything,” she said.
Copyright © 2022 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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