Locals woke to a storm which had exploded right into a behemoth in a single day. It is as if Hurricane Ian was designed for destruction, not simply bringing 155mph wind however storm surge – a tsunami-like wall of water – as much as 12 toes excessive in locations.
Fort Myers, a city on the Caloosahatchee River, was among the many worst affected, each by the Hurricane Ian storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico and freshwater flooding inland.
We had been staying at a lodge simply outdoors the principle affect zone, 5 miles from the coast. Rooms had been absolutely booked with evacuated residents who had primarily moved from the coast inland.
As winds started to choose up round noon many people noticed out the storm collectively within the foyer and bar of the lodge. We did not see the worst of it however huge potted crops had been stunned by the wind and a tree was uprooted within the automobile park.
Hours later three folks arrived on the lodge drenched from head to toe, shivering and carrying life jackets. Jennifer Pribanic and her mother and father, Debby and John Schaefer, had chosen to stay at house in Fort Myers, knocking down their storm shutters and boarding up the home windows. But they had been caught unawares by the sheer energy of the water.
“The water was coming in through the cracks of the doors, and the water just kept coming,” Jennifer mentioned. “Within 10 minutes it went from my ankles to my chest and the door that goes out to garage broke off the hinges. Water gushes in, the next thing you know it’s above our heads, every piece of furniture in the house was floating.”
Jennifer and her mother and father had been rescued by a neighbour’s good friend with a ship.
“We were floating, we were trying to stand on furniture, the water was way above our heads,” she mentioned. “I saw a boat and I started screaming. If the boat hadn’t arrived I don’t think we would be here.”
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More than 2.5million folks had been advised to evacuate however many made a calculated choice to stay at house. They shored up their defences with sandbags and boarded up their home windows. But few had been anticipating a storm with the ferocity of Hurricane Ian which coated such a big space.
It is simply when day breaks that the total scale of the harm will probably be seen however it’s anticipated that this will probably be one of many costliest hurricanes on file for Florida.
Long after the wind and water has subsided, folks will probably be counting the price of this disaster.
Source: information.sky.com”