Florida drone captures beached boats, destroyed Sanibel Causeway | USA TODAY

Hurricane Ian wreaked havoc on Sanibel, Florida, destroying a causeway that cut off access to the barrier island's 6,300 residents.

RELATED: Post-tropical cyclone Ian batters South Carolina, causes storm surge

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, with its 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 beachside bars and hotels and resorts, sits on skinny Estero Island, which left 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 lashed by the storm. Other areas of the state are still seeing heavy rains and haven't broken free of Ian's grip yet. Local officials, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Joe Biden say the storm is likely to be historically deadly and costly.

» Subscribe to USA TODAY:
» Watch more on this and other topics from USA TODAY:
» USA TODAY delivers current local and national news, sports, entertainment, finance, technology, and more through award-winning journalism, photos, videos and VR.

#Hurricane #Florida #Drone

11 comments

  1. Better keep an eye on the disaster relief funds – follow the money. Make sure those funds go to disaster victims and not into politicians’ pockets. Any contracts made for disaster relief need to be checked over for legality, process, nepotism, and legal conflicts of interest.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.