Hurricane Ian 2022
Hurricane Ian pummeled the SW coast of Florida with sustained winds of 150 mph – when it made landfall on Wednesday, September 28th, 2022 as one of the top 5 strongest hurricanes on record to ever hit the United States. No amount of preparation would have been enough when this massive storm rocked Florida to it’s core.
Following the same path as Hurricane Charlie back in 2004, Hurricane Ian was Florida’s deadliest hurricane since 1935. There have been a total of 100
Wednesday, September 28th 2022 at 3:05 PM
Thousands of livelihoods were destroyed leaving well over 2.6 million homes
Ian barreled across Cayo Costa State Park, a barrier Island in Lee County
The bridge to Captiva Island and Sanibel Island – Before & After
Hurricane Ian was one of the largest and most powerful hurricanes to ever be seen in the United States. The massive eyewall spread from Venice reaching to Bonita Springs and inland through Arcadia devastating everything in between. The News stations tracking Hurricane Ian were even losing power and struggling to keep the people up to date.
Cayo Costa is a barrier island and state park in Lee County, just north of popular vacation destinations – Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Many bridges and roadways were destroyed during the devastation including the Matlacha Pass and the Sanibel Causeway leaving places like Pine Island, Matlacha, Sanibel and Captiva Islands accessible by boat and by boat only.
SW Florida will never be the same…
This massive and violent storm plunged onto land ripping across Punta Gorda, Ft Myers, Sarasota, Boca Grande Port Charlotte, North Port, Cape Coral and Arcadia. Residents there observed life threatening experiences due to; catastrophic winds, storm surge, lightning, isolated tornadoes and historic rainfall. Many were trapped within their homes with flooded streets and destroyed roadways. At least 4,000 people were rescued during Ian, including over 900 people in Lee County alone.
Record Flooding in Central Florida – Water Levels Over 23 Feet
Many neighborhoods within central Florida including; DeSoto, Hardee and Polk county flooded after hurricane Ian made landfall. Record amount of freshwater river flooding with over 20 inches of rain Is this another natural disaster aided by a warming climate?
The Tampa Bay area experienced devastating effects from storm surge:
Catastrophic storm surge flooding and damage was reported across western coastal Florida, including the greater Tampa Bay, Fort Myers, and Naples areas. Storm surge plays a huge part in the devastation process during hurricanes. The most destructive and deadliest part of any hurricane is water from surge and freshwater flooding. That’s why unless you are in an evacuation zone, it is imperative that you stay home and off the roads during a hurricane or tropical storm. A record storm surge of nearly 18 feet occurred just east and south of the storm’s center.
Excessive rainfall continued drenching the Sunshine State Ian weakened to a tropical storm after crossing the Florida Peninsula but not before dumping a major amount of heavy rainfall creating flash flooding and impacting areas in downtown Orlando, Sanford, Kissimmee, St Augustine, Seminole County, and Volusia County. Ian re-strengthened as it made its way up the coast in the Atlantic Ocean before making a second landfall in Cape Romain, South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane. The storm continued to weaken to a post-tropical cyclone as it pushed inland before dissipating approximately 40 miles south-southwest of Richmond, Virginia on Sunday, October 2, 2022. Power outages severely impacted the Carolinas as well; leaving hundreds of thousands of utility customers without power.
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Don’t Put our Linemen, Police and Firemen in harms way – EVACUTE WHEN TOLD TO DO SO!
Whether you are a life long resident or new to the area…please don’t “just ride it out”. If your area has been evacuated, please do yourself a favor, do our rescue teams a favor and leave! It is better to be safe than sorry when battling a natural disaster. Hurricane Ian had over 2.5 million people across Florida initially under evacuation alerts. Lee County had issued a extreme wind warning as major hurricane Ian moved ashore. This warning is only issued when winds exceeds over 115 mph and has only been issued 15 times in history. People were urged to evacuate days before landfall. The people who decided to stay put themselves and our rescue teams in danger. Power crews do not venture out to begin repairs until peak sustained winds are lower than 35 mph and even then they are putting themselves at an extremely high risk of injury or death.
Recovery efforts continued across Florida once major flooding-related impacts subsided. However, many of the worst-affected areas remained without water and power for a long periods of time. President Biden declared a major disaster in Florida as did Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for all 67 counties. Governor DeSantis also deployed approximately 7,000 members of the National Guard. Volunteers, Red Cross, and Linemen from all over the US joined Florida residents to rebuild after the devastating natural disaster.
Together, we are the sunshine state! Share your hurricane Ian stories below. Send in your videos and photos by emailing us at allaboutthesunshinestate@gmail.com
