Drone footage captures Hurricane Ian’s destruction in Fort Myers Beach | USA TODAY

This is what Fort Myers Beach looked like a day after Hurricane Ian hit.

RELATED: Cat gets rescued from Hurricane Ian floodwaters

Fort Myers Beach, along with Lee County’s other barrier islands, took the brunt of Hurricane Ian’s assault on Florida’s coastline. The storm, a Category 4 when it made landfall, sent 150 mph winds and a towering storm surge tearing through the town’s center.

Fort Myers, boasting a population of more than 92,000, is a popular city for tourists and spring breakers. The nearby small coastal town of Fort Myers Beach, filled with beach-side bars and hotels and resorts, sits on skinny Estero Island, making it more vulnerable as Ian pounded the region. The town has a population of nearly 6,000.

The cities and towns there were some of the first areas to receive a lashing from the storm. Other areas of the state are still seeing heavy rains and haven't broken free of Ian's grip yet. Local officials and President Joe Biden say the storm is likely to be historically deadly and costly.

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33 comments

  1. How in the world was their not countless-loss of life .. Hats off to all involved in preparation.. and people heeding warnings ..

    1. Yeah my neighborhood is packed with friends of neighbors that evacuated. Luckily for us we never lost power so they came to a good spot.

    2. @Mitchell wow…So glad to hear it Mitchell… Prayers for the days ahead and you guys keep up your chins up knowing that..

  2. Drone footage captures Hurricane Ian’s destruction in Fort Myers Beach | USA TODAY 1514pm 30.9.22 makes this more schmaltzy than it should be – the incidental music… hmmmmmmmm…. that could easily be a seen of carnage from any middle eastern warring enclave. p.s it also makes it seem, the footage, that is, that the storm was very discerning re: what it left standing and what it laid to waste…

    1. Totally agree.. I saw this earlier with no schmaltzy music (or end ads) associated with a local newspaper. Cannot now relocate.

    2. @CelticBearWoman Drone footage captures Hurricane Ian’s destruction in Fort Myers Beach | USA TODAY 1844pm 30.9.22 relocate? the power of the weather, for sure… as for tawdry incidental music supposedly there to induce some semblance of sympathy – i think the sympathy would be a given, anyway… though not much we can do about it. the weather, that is. and after all is said and done i feel this storm would have been pretty much awe inspiring if not instilling fear into anyone who was in the vicinity of it’s wrath…

  3. Allah سبحانه وتعالى said,

    وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ قَالُوا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ
    And when it is said to them: “Make not mischief on the earth,” they say: “We are only peace-makers.”

    أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْمُفْسِدُونَ وَلَـٰكِن لَّا يَشْعُرُونَ
    Verily! They are the ones who make mischief, but they perceive not. [Al-Baqarah 2:11-12]

    كُلَّمَا أَوْقَدُوا نَارًا لِّلْحَرْبِ أَطْفَأَهَا اللَّهُ ۚ وَيَسْعَوْنَ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَسَادًا ۚ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُفْسِدِينَ
    Every time they kindled the fire of war, Allah extinguished it; and they (ever) strive to make mischief on the earth. And Allah does not like the Mufsidun (mischief-makers). [Al-Maa’idah 5:64]

    وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ آمِنُوا كَمَا آمَنَ النَّاسُ قَالُوا أَنُؤْمِنُ كَمَا آمَنَ السُّفَهَاءُ ۗ أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ السُّفَهَاءُ وَلَـٰكِن لَّا يَعْلَمُونَ
    And when it is said to them: “Believe as the people (Muslims of Islamic Monotheism) have believed,” they say: “Shall we believe as the fools have believed?” Verily they are the fools, but they know not. [Al-Baqarah 2:13]

    وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُم مَّاذَا أَنزَلَ رَبُّكُمْ ۙ قَالُوا أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ
    And when it is said to them: “What is it that your Lord has sent down?” They say: “Tales of the ancients.” [An-Nahl 16:24]

    وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّبِعُوا مَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ قَالُوا بَلْ نَتَّبِعُ مَا أَلْفَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ آبَاءَنَا ۗ أَوَلَوْ كَانَ آبَاؤُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَهْتَدُونَ
    And when it is said to them: “Follow what Allah has sent down.” They say: “Nay! We shall follow what we found our fathers following.” (Would they do that!) even though their fathers did not understand anything nor were they guided? [Al-Baqarah 2:170]

    وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ أَنفِقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ قَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنُطْعِمُ مَن لَّوْ يَشَاءُ اللَّهُ أَطْعَمَهُ إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلَّا فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ
    And when it is said to them: “Spend of that with which Allah has provided you,” those who disbelieve say to those who believe: “Shall we feed those whom if Allah willed, He (Himself) would have fed? You (believers) are only in a plain error.” [Ya-Sin 36:47]

    إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ
    Verily when it was said to them: “La ilaha illa-Allah (none has the right to be worshipped but Allah),” they puffed themselves up with pride (i.e. denied it). [As-Saafaat 37:35]

    وَقَالُوا مَا هِيَ إِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَا إِلَّا الدَّهْرُ ۚ وَمَا لَهُم بِذَ‌ٰلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ ۖ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ
    And they say: “There is nothing but our life of this world, we die and we live and nothing destroys us except time (Ad-Dahr).” And they have no knowledge of it: they only conjecture. [Al-Jaathiyah 45:24]

    وَقَالُوا مَنْ أَشَدُّ مِنَّا قُوَّةً ۖ أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُمْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً ۖ وَكَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ
    And they said: “Who is mightier than us in strength?” See they not that Allah who created them was Mightier in Strength than them? And they used to deny Our Ayat (Signs)!

    فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا فِي أَيَّامٍ نَّحِسَاتٍ لِّنُذِيقَهُمْ عَذَابَ الْخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَلَعَذَابُ الْآخِرَةِ أَخْزَىٰ ۖ وَهُمْ لَا يُنصَرُونَ
    So We sent upon them a furious wind in days of evil omen (for them) that We might give them a taste of disgracing torment in this present worldly life. But surely the torment of the Hereafter will be more disgracing, and they will never be helped. [Fussilat 41:15-16]

    تُدَمِّرُ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ بِأَمْرِ رَبِّهَا فَأَصْبَحُوا لَا يُرَىٰ إِلَّا مَسَاكِنُهُمْ ۚ كَذَ‌ٰلِكَ نَجْزِي الْقَوْمَ الْمُجْرِمِينَ
    Destroying everything by the Command of its Lord! So they became such that nothing could be seen except their dwellings! Thus do We recompense the people who are Mujrimun (criminal polytheist disbelievers)! [Al-Ahqaaf 46:25]

    مَا ظَلَمْنَاهُمْ وَلَـٰكِن ظَلَمُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ ۖ فَمَا أَغْنَتْ عَنْهُمْ آلِهَتُهُمُ الَّتِي يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مِن شَيْءٍ لَّمَّا جَاءَ أَمْرُ رَبِّكَ ۖ وَمَا زَادُوهُمْ غَيْرَ تَتْبِيبٍ
    We wronged them not, but they wronged themselves. So their gods other than Allah whom they invoked, benefitted them naught when there came the Command of your Lord, nor did they add aught to them except destruction.

    وَكَذَ‌ٰلِكَ أَخْذُ رَبِّكَ إِذَا أَخَذَ الْقُرَىٰ وَهِيَ ظَالِمَةٌ ۚ إِنَّ أَخْذَهُ أَلِيمٌ شَدِيدٌ
    Such is the Seizure of your Lord when He seizes the (population of) the towns while they are doing wrong (i.e polytheism and disbelief in the Afterlife). Verily, His Seizure is painful, (and) severe. [Hud 11:101-102]

    ذَ‌ٰلِكَ جَزَاؤُهُم بِأَنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِنَا وَقَالُوا أَإِذَا كُنَّا عِظَامًا وَرُفَاتًا أَإِنَّا لَمَبْعُوثُونَ خَلْقًا جَدِيدًا
    That is their recompense, because they denied Our Ayat (Signs) and said: “When we are bones and fragments, shall we really be raised up as a new creation?” [Al-Israa’ 17:98]

    قَدْ عَلِمْنَا مَا تَنقُصُ الْأَرْضُ مِنْهُمْ ۖ وَعِندَنَا كِتَابٌ حَفِيظٌ
    We know that which the earth takes of them (their dead bodies), and with Us is a Book preserved (i.e. the Book of Decrees). [Qaf 50:4]

    وَمَا خَلَقْنَا السَّمَاءَ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا بَاطِلًا ۚ ذَ‌ٰلِكَ ظَنُّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ۚ فَوَيْلٌ لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنَ النَّارِ
    And We created not the heaven and the earth and all that is between them with falsehood! That is the consideration of those who disbelieve! Then woe to those who disbelieve from the Fire! [Sad 38:27]

    أَمْ حَسِبَ الَّذِينَ اجْتَرَحُوا السَّيِّئَاتِ أَن نَّجْعَلَهُمْ كَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ سَوَاءً مَّحْيَاهُمْ وَمَمَاتُهُمْ ۚ سَاءَ مَا يَحْكُمُونَ
    Or do those who earn evil deeds think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe and do righteous good deeds, in their present life and after their death? Worst is the judgement that they make.

    وَخَلَقَ اللَّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ بِالْحَقِّ وَلِتُجْزَىٰ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ
    And Allah has created the heavens and the earth with truth, in order that each Nafs (self, soul, person) may be recompensed for that which it has earned, and they will not be wronged. [Al-Jaathiyah 45:21-22]

    وَأَنَّ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ أَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا
    And that those who believe not in the Hereafter, for them We have prepared a painful torment. [Al-Israa’ 17:10]

    وَأُمَمٌ سَنُمَتِّعُهُمْ ثُمَّ يَمَسُّهُم مِّنَّا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
    And (there will be other) people to whom We shall grant their pleasures (for a time), but in the end a painful torment will reach them from Us. [Hud 11:48]

    1. @Ross M It’s longer than the life of any one person. Many people have enjoyed living on the Florida shores since the 1920’s boom. Get off your high horse. You aren’t as clever as you think.

    2. @Pelican1984 sea levels have risen sharply since the 1920s which just validates my point further rather than refuting it. Keep ‘em coming pal.

  4. So sad to see. I was just here less than a week ago visiting my parents. My parents moved to Fort Myers 3 months ago and their place was completely underwater but they’re alive which is all that matters.

  5. I saw a brief interview with a woman in Fort Myers: “Our house is gone. I knew this could happen, but didn’t think it would happen to *us*!” – Bad things only happen to other people???

    Positive-bias is a dangerous thing. To be brutally honest, all Floridians should expect this to happen if they live near the coast less than 10-feet above sea level. Less than 30-years from today, sea levels will have risen ~4-feet in populated areas like Tampa Bay and Cape Coral, not to mention the barrier islands. 15-inches per year! These places will be inundated and submerged for millenia.

    “Overall, sea level rise is making the odds of a South Florida flood reaching more than 4-feet above high tide by 2050. On par with the odds of losing at Russian roulette. More than half the population of more than 100 Florida towns and cities currently live on land below that 4-foot line.”

    The opposite word (antonym) for “Paradise” is “Hell”.

    1. I think what you wrote here is explained very clearly and I too have ideas on city planning and the coast. Unfortunately you are talking to humans. The only ones hearing your message are insurance companies not residents. Some women when finding out about a surprise pregnancy will say ” I didn’t think it would happen to me”. That has been said for 100’s of years so good luck fighting old fashion stupidity and a strong desire to not understand mother nature.

    2. Yes, the “I didn’t think it can happen to us” mentality, well….. Anything good and horrifically bad can happen to anyone at any time including loosing your house to a weather related event..

  6. That’s nuts. This was supposed to originally hit us here in manatee county head on. Can’t even imagine. Been in Florida forever, and been lucky so far.

  7. PPL OPEN FIRE HYDRANTS FOR CLEAN WATER. Boil to drink to be safe ofc but that’s what we did after hurricane Katrina

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