Blown roofs, cars ‘smashed up in the street’: The unimaginable destruction of Hurricane Ian | CNN
2 years ago 9 min read
CNN
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Hurricane Ian shredded the roof of a Port Charlotte intensive care unit, flooding the hospital ward and turning a stairwell into a waterfall.
In Fort Myers, a 10-foot storm surge tossed cars around like bath toys and left them “smashed up in the street.”
The catastrophic hurricane turned cities into lakes and left a trail of destruction that defies imagination.
These are some of the stories emerging from Florida’s battered west coast:
Lanai ripped off house as Hurricane Ian batters Florida
The need for air rescue was so urgent that members of the Coast Guard started saving residents while Ian was still hammering the area.
“We didn’t even wait for the passage of the storm last night. We had helicopters in the air,” Coast Guard Rear Adm. Brendan McPherson said Thursday.
“We rescued 13 people along the coast between Fort Myers and St. Petersburg.”
That number could pale in comparison to the number of people who still need to be saved Thursday.
“We’re gearing up for what’s going to be a very busy day of search and rescue,” McPherson said. “We currently have an aircraft in the air with the Florida National Guard actively pulling people off of roofs in Fort Myers.”
Scott Carlos thought he would be safe from flooding in his fourth-floor condo. He was wrong.
Ian hurled 10-foot storm surges toward his Fort Myers home, submerging large swaths of his neighborhood.
“We actually had water coming into my fourth-story condo, just from the spray … and waves crashing into the building,” Carlos said.
“The whole parking lot is completely destroyed.”
At one point, he said, the water was “at least 10 feet high on the east side of us, which is right across the street from the beach.”
As he surveyed his neighborhood after the storm, he noticed “debris everywhere.”
“Everyone’s garages basically just gave out,” Carlos said. “Cars are everywhere, smashed up in the street. Most of them actually went across the street.”
Reporter wades into floodwaters to save stranded nurse
Tony Atkins of CNN affiliate WESH was reporting in Orlando when a driver tried to cross a submerged road.
It didn’t work. The rapidly rising floodwater inundated the woman’s car and threatened to wash it away.
“This car eventually got stuck, then I saw a hand come out. I heard, ‘Help!’” Atkins said.
He looked around for alligators, downed power lines and any first responder who could rescue the woman. “But no one was there,” he said. “It was so dark.”
So Atkins jumped into the floodwater swirling around the woman’s car and carried her away on his back.
“She didn’t seem too concerned about the car,” Atkins said. “But she was very concerned and had to get to work, where she worked as a nurse. Saving lives was obviously top of mind for her, trying to get to work (during) this hurricane.”
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Giorgio Viera/AFP/Getty Images
A man takes photos Thursday, September 29, of boats that were damaged by Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Stedi Scuderi looks over her flooded apartment in Fort Myers on Thursday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Wilfredo Lee/AP
This aerial photo shows damaged homes and debris in Fort Myers on Thursday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/Zuma
Fort Myers residents explore damage on Fort Myers Beach on Thursday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP/Getty Images
A boat lies partially submerged in Punta Gorda, Florida, on Thursday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Tom Park begins cleaning up in Punta Gorda on Thursday.
according to live video from CNN affiliate WBBH. The causeway is the only way to get to or from Sanibel and Captiva Islands to Florida’s mainland.” class=”gallery-image__dam-img” height=”1667″/>
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Wilfredo Lee/AP
A causeway to Florida’s Sanibel Island is seen on Thursday. A portion of the causeway was washed away by storm surge, according to live video from CNN affiliate WBBH. The causeway is the only way to get to or from Sanibel and Captiva Islands to Florida’s mainland.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Chris O’Meara/AP
People survey damage to their home in Valrico, Florida, on Thursday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP/Getty Images
Debris litters a street in Punta Gorda on Thursday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Brenda Brennan sits next to a boat that pushed up against her apartment building in Fort Myers on Thursday. She said the boat floated in around 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Vehicles make their way through flooded streets in Fort Myers on Thursday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Stefanie Karas stands in her flooded apartment in Fort Myers on Thursday. She is an artist and was salvaging what she could from her home.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Orange County Fire Rescue’s Public Information Office via AP
Firefighters help stranded people in Orange County, Florida, early on Thursday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA Presss
A spiral staircase lies next to a damaged pickup truck in Sanibel, Florida, on Thursday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Marco Bello/Reuters
A flooded street is seen in downtown Fort Myers after Ian made landfall on Wednesday, September 28.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Marco Bello/Reuters
A woman surveys damage through a door during a power outage in Fort Myers on Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
NOAA/NASA
A satellite image shows the hurricane making landfall on the southwest coast of Florida on Wednesday.
shelter in place until further notice.” class=”gallery-image__dam-img” height=”1042″/>
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Naples Police
The streets of Naples, Florida, are flooded on Wednesday. City officials asked residents to shelter in place until further notice.
water was receding due to a negative storm surge.” class=”gallery-image__dam-img” height=”1264″/>
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Ben Hendren/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A woman is helped out of a muddy area Wednesday in Tampa, Florida, where water was receding due to a negative storm surge.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP/Getty Images
Strong winds hit Punta Gorda on Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Ben Hendren/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A woman holds an umbrella inverted by the wind in Tampa on Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Pedro Portal/El Nuevo Herald/TNS/Abaca/Reuters
Sailboats anchored in Roberts Bay are blown around in Venice, Florida, on Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Crystal Vander Weit/TCPalm/USA Today Network
Melvin Phillips stands in the flooded basement of his mobile home in Stuart, Florida, on Wednesday.
water was receding from Tampa Bay on Wednesday.” class=”gallery-image__dam-img” height=”1125″/>
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images
Officials believe it was caused by a tornado fueled by Hurricane Ian.” class=”gallery-image__dam-img” height=”1332″/>
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Greg Lovett/The Palm Beach Post/USA Today Network
Damage is seen at the Kings Point condos in Delray Beach, Florida, on Wednesday. Officials believe it was caused by a tornado fueled by Hurricane Ian.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Marco Bello/Reuters
A TV crew broadcasts from the beach in Fort Myers on Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/AP
Utility trucks are staged in a rural lot Wednesday in The Villages, a Florida retirement community.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Highways in Tampa are empty Wednesday ahead of Hurricane Ian making landfall. Several coastal counties in western Florida were under mandatory evacuations.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Wilfredo Lee/AP
An airplane is overturned in Pembroke Pines, Florida, on Wednesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP
Zuram Rodriguez surveys the damage around her home in Davie, Florida, early on Wednesday.
causing an islandwide blackout.” class=”gallery-image__dam-img” height=”1953″/>
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Ramon Espinosa/AP
People play dominoes by flashlight during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, on Wednesday. Crews in Cuba have been working to restore power for millions after the storm battered the western region with high winds and dangerous storm surge, causing an islandwide blackout.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
People walk through a flooded street in Batabano, Cuba, on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Chris O’Meara/AP
Southwest Airlines passengers check in near a sign that shows canceled flights at the Tampa International Airport on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Ramon Espinosa/AP
Maria Llonch retrieves belongings from her home in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel via AP
Traffic builds along Interstate 4 in Tampa on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters
A man carries his children through rain and debris in Pinar del Rio on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters
People drive through debris in Pinar del Rio on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Frederic and Mary Herodet board up their Gulf Bistro restaurant in St. Pete Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
NASA’s Artemis I rocket rolls back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Tuesday. The launch of the rocket was postponed due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Ian.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
NASA via AP
Hurricane Ian is seen from the International Space Station on Monday, September 26.
Hurricane Ian reaches Cuba on Monday.” class=”gallery-image__dam-img” height=”1145″/>
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
A Cuban family transports personal belongings to a safe place in the Fanguito neighborhood of Havana on Monday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Adalberto Roque/AFP/Getty Images
A family carries a dog to a safe place in Batabano on Monday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP
People wait in lines to fuel their vehicles at a Costco store in Orlando on Monday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Mike Lang/USA Today Network
Ryan Copenhaver, manager of Siesta T’s in Sarasota, Florida, installs hurricane panels over the store’s windows on Monday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Imagaes
A man helps pull small boats out of Cuba’s Havana Bay on Monday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images
Shelves are empty in a supermarket’s water aisle in Kissimmee, Florida, on Monday.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
Cathie Perkins, emergency management director in Pinellas County, Florida, references a map on Monday that indicates where storm surges would impact the county. During a news conference, she urged anyone living in those areas to evacuate.
Photos: Hurricane Ian pummels Florida
Andrew West/USA Today Network
Sarah Peterson fills sandbags in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, on Saturday, September 24.
Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson said Ian was the worst storm he’s ever seen.
“I’m standing on a floating cement dock in the river district of downtown. The problem is, this dock is two blocks away from the river in a middle of an intersection,” Anderson told CNN on Thursday.
“This thing weighs a ton. That’s how powerful the water was last night.”
Go inside ICU unit after Ian tears roof off
The medical staff at a Port Charlotte intensive care unit expected a strong storm, but nothing so catastrophic.
“We had about 160 patients in house and our roof blew off – part of the roof above the ICU,” said Dr. Birgit Bodine, an internal medicine specialist.
We had torrential rains coming in, which then went down the stairwell, which then went onto other floors.”
Staff members waded through murky water moving patients to a safer part of the building. Some rooms built for two people were suddenly housing three or four, Bodine said.
She said the air conditioning is not working, but backup generators have enabled all other vital systems at the hospital to keep running.
“Luckily, everybody’s doing good and actually, surprisingly, in decent spirits because they can see that we’re trying the best we can with what we have,” she said.
Hurricane Ian damage: Causeway connecting Florida mainland to island crumbled into ocean
Even longtime Floridians hardened by decades of hurricanes couldn’t believe Ian’s destruction.
“This was a totally different hurricane,” Collier County Commissioner Rick LoCastro said.
He said the storm surge topped 12 feet in parts of his district, including Marco Island and Naples.
“I had survived Irma and other hurricanes that were much more about the wind and yes, always water,” LoCastro said.
“But storm surge is something that we have not seen here – to this intensity – ever.”
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