by Michael
Can you imagine clinging to a wall with all your might for hours to avoid certain death? There are many people living on the west coast of Florida who barely survived Hurricane Ian, and in this article you will hear some of their stories. This wasn’t just another storm. Hurricane Ian had maximum sustained winds of 155 mph, putting it just 2 mph away from being a Category 5 storm. But the worst part was the giant wall of water that the storm pushed ashore. The storm surge caused so much damage that Ian is already predicted to be the costliest natural disaster in US history. The state of Florida will never be the same after this, and we should all mourn those who lost their lives.
Every time a hurricane makes landfall there is a lot of water, but many who live in the Fort Myers area were not quite prepared for the absolutely gigantic wall of water that Hurricane Ian brought with it…
As the sun rose over Florida’s Gulf Coast on Thursday, it revealed the devastating trail of destruction left behind by Hurricane Ian.
The area surrounding Fort Myers, known as the Lee Island Coast, suffered the most catastrophic destruction, with storm surges estimated to reach 12 feet in some areas, sweeping away cars and onto roofs of the houses
The causeway connecting Sanibel Island to the mainland was destroyed by the raging Category 4 hurricane, and more than two million people were left without power after the monster storm passed.
During the peak of this storm, you are not likely to survive if you stay at ground level.
So everyone was trying to get higher and in some cases people were taking desperate measures to do so…
Daniel Suarez, 39, and his wife Heather, 37, heeded warnings to flee their second-floor apartment, but their downstairs neighbors chose to stay.
“At around 3pm, his place was completely flooded. His vehicle was floating in the car park,” Daniel told DailyMail.com.
“The water was so strong they couldn’t open the front door, so they had to break through the plasterboard to the staircase and then climb up and into our apartment to be safe.
They must be very afraid. Can you imagine trying to break through drywall in the middle of a hurricane?
Many Florida homes only have one level, and in these cases, there is no second level to go to for safety.
When water started pouring into the home of 39-year-old Samuel Martinez, he and his family initially climbed onto the roof.
But the winds were too strong to stay on the roof, so Martinez and her four cousins literally clung to an outside wall of the house for hours…
Water started dripping into Iona’s one-story home around 8 a.m. Ten minutes later it was two feet away. It would eventually reach about 10 feet tall.
Martínez and his four cousins tried to take refuge on the roof but the winds were too strong. They ended up clinging to an outside wall for dear life.
“It was up to our necks,” he said. “We held on for what seemed like hours praying the water would stop rising.
‘The house is completely ruined, but we are alive. But I’m worried about my neighbors, one of them is a pregnant woman.’
You have to have a strong will to live to overcome an ordeal like this.
If the water had risen just a foot or two more, they might not have survived.
Unfortunately, there were many who did not make it. We’re told the death toll is “in the hundreds,” but of course that’s only a very early estimate.
Florida has never experienced a storm like this, and after surveying the damage, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marcino told CNN that “there are really no words that I can say to tell you what I’ve seen “…
“I literally got out of a helicopter where I was able to do a full tour of the entire county and there really are no words that I can say to tell you what I saw,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marcino told the CNN Thursday. . “The Fort Myers Beach area, buildings, major and major homes and buildings completely washed away with vehicles in the water, vehicles in the bay and boats overturned.”
The Fort Myers area will not be fine after this.
Do you remember seeing images of the historic tsunami that hit Fukushima?
Well, what just happened in Fort Myers is something like that.
The water picked up objects that were extremely heavy and carried them great distances. In fact, the mayor of Fort Myers gave a CNN interview in the middle of his destroyed city while standing on a floating cement dock that Hurricane Ian had deposited there…
Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson said Ian was the worst storm he has ever seen.
“I’m standing on a floating cement dock in the downtown river district. The problem is that this dock is two river blocks in the middle of an intersection,” Anderson told CNN on Thursday.
“This thing weighs a ton. That’s how powerful the water was last night.”
Countless people have seen their lives completely turned upside down.
Tom Hinkle, 93, was able to ride out the storm successfully, but says he lost his house, his car and everything he had…
“I’ve lost every damn thing I own,” said Tom Hinkle, a 93-year-old retiree, as he looked out at the broken, murky water that made it impossible to reach his two-bed retirement home a thousand yards or so away of the Gulf of Mexico.
“I’ve lived in my house for 22 years and it’s gone. My car is even under water,” she added, with tears in her eyes.
Hinkle got out alive thanks to Good Samaritan Ray Remillard, 62, who rounded up four elderly residents of the Sunshine Mobile Village, several miles from Fort Myers Beach, and took them to his company’s apartment further inside.
How can you “start over” when you’re 93?
And how will Florida’s west coast start again now that hundreds of billions of dollars in damage have been done?
What just happened should make us all deeply saddened.
It’s only been a week since the end of summer, and we’ve already witnessed the costliest natural disaster in our country’s history.
Hurricane Ian was truly a “monster storm,” and it’s only a matter of time before even bigger disasters hit us.
Our world has become a very wild and unpredictable place, and global events are beginning to accelerate.
So let us mourn for all that has just been lost, but also prepare for what lies ahead.
Because what we have experienced so far is only the beginning.
Fort Myers Beach Times Square LEVEL below #Hurricane #Ian #Hurricane pic.twitter.com/V3gHTs5Mx8
— Smurf (@swmurfl) September 29, 2022
Here’s what’s left of Times Square in Fort Myers Beach pic.twitter.com/dw9OXzbtAz
— Vikeologist™ (@Vikeologist) September 29, 2022
Ft Myers Beach is gone, almost no emergency crews yet. These poor people need so much help… pic.twitter.com/5uLo26zFMZ
— Max Olson (@MesoMax919) September 29, 2022
The Fort Myers Beach pier and nearby restaurants and structures have been destroyed. pic.twitter.com/LZuB2Q090M
— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) September 29, 2022
More Fort Myers Beach video showing large boats washed ashore #Hurricane #hurricane #Ian pic.twitter.com/HxqAfyqkH4
— Smurf (@swmurfl) September 29, 2022
Hoping he’s wrong, but Lee County, Florida Sheriff Carmine Marceno says it’s “confirmed” there are “hundreds of dead” #Hurricane pic.twitter.com/WtJCfWPwb4
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 29, 2022
The storm surge came into our WINK studios in Fort Myers and flooded the entire first floor. He lost power and was unable to continue broadcasting on TV/Radio. No return air times. #Ian it was the strongest hurricane in Southwest Florida’s history. Widespread destruction towards home. pic.twitter.com/w6is0EXcpD
— Matt Devitt (@MattDevittWINK) September 29, 2022
Incredible amounts of water. This is NOT near the coast. This is CENTRAL FLORIDA! @weatherchannel #Ian @CityofKissimmee #flood #Hurricane #Ianflorida #IanRescue For more updates, go to t.co/AcRNA256uc and the Weather Channel app. You can also follow me on twitter pic.twitter.com/bae9SAy2nI
— Heather Tesch (@HeatherTesch) September 29, 2022
