#Matlacha After Hurricane Ian

[jthurlow]

Then and Now Images and Movies - Hurricane Ian

Then and Now Images and Movies – Hurricane Ian

Screenshot of slide-bar image: “Then and Now Images and Movies:” “Matlacha After Hurricane Ian,” eyeonlakeo.com, Todd Thurlow. Having grown up in Florida, my brother Todd and I both developed a reverence for the natural world. Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida on September 28, 2022. Today, I share Todd’s latest eyeonlakeo.com creation featuring jaw-dropping “then and now images and…

[thegeekx]

Pine Island evacuees help one another after Hurricane Ian destruction

Pine Island evacuees help one another after Hurricane Ian destruction

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Agusto “Kiko” and Julia “Gordie” Villalon returned to Pine Island after fleeing Hurricane Ian, leaving just as the slow-moving storm’s winds and rain began to batter the island. Nearly a week later, they were on a boat back to their mobile home.  They weren’t sure what they would find — they weren’t even sure their home would be there.  Many who evacuated Cape Coral, Matlacha,…

[skillstopallmedia]

Hurricane Ian | “We feel a little forgotten”: a small island cut off from the world

Hurricane Ian | “We feel a little forgotten”: a small island cut off from the world

(Matlacha) Karen Pagliaro walks the main street of Matlacha, weaving, a little lost, between downed trees, debris and abandoned vehicles. This island of 800 inhabitants, usually a small corner of paradise, was cut off from the world after the passage of the hurricane Ianwhich damaged the two bridges connecting it to the rest of Florida. “We feel a bit forgotten,” regrets this 50-year-old teacher,…

[awutar]

The danger persists after the passage of Hurricane Ian

The danger persists after the passage of Hurricane Ian

People stand on the destroyed bridge to Pine Island as they look at the damage caused by Hurricane Ian in Matlacha, Fla., on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island was badly damaged and could only be accessed by sea or air. . (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) AP People kayaking down streets that were passable a day or two ago. Hundreds of thousands of people without electricity. National…

[frozendakeri]

I have no electricity, no running water so I haven't showered since last Tuesday, and my cell signal is spotty. But that's the least of my worries.

Hurricane Ian was a freak of nature. It remained a category 3 hurricane long after it made landfall. Winds in my area were clocking 140 mph with gusts up to 160 mph. I could only sit and watch my neighbors trees, roof shingles, and solar panels blow away. Hurricane Ian basically wiped my hometown off the map. Ft. Myers beach, where I made so many memories with my friends and family was completely leveled in a matter of hours. The Sanibel causeway, which was rebuilt after hurricane Charley blew it down back in 2004, is now gone again. Pine Island and Matlacha were decimated. The flooding was horrible. And its still causing problems throughout my state. So many people lost their homes. And lives were lost; the death toll is slowly rising as search and rescue teams look through the carnage. It's unreal. It almost feels like a never ending nightmare. And the weirder thing is, it was absolutely gorgeous outside the day after Ian hit. Partly cloudy, 60° weather, breezy..

I don't think people who live outside of hurricane infested states understand how devastating these storms are. I've lived in Florida my whole life. I was here to witness hurricane Charley, Wilma, and Irma, the worst 3 hurricanes to hit my area. But none of them compared to Ian. This was the first hurricane where I was legitimately worried for mine and my family's safety. And I know some people will ask "Why didn't you evacuate?" Well, some can't and some won't. I worked up until the day before Ian made landfall. Some can't afford to leave. Others have disabilities that would make it hard to travel, like my partner, he has kidney failure and taking his dialysis machine and all the accessories that go with it is a pain. People could have pets, and traveling with pets can be hard.

But most people don't want to leave because this is our home. And nobody wants to leave knowing that they may not have a home to come back to.

And please, to any northerners who come to Florida every winter, please stay home this year. Let us have our home for once. Let us rebuild what was lost. Let us grieve what we lost, because we all lost a lot.

[hbclife]

Search and rescue efforts underway in Florida after 'catastrophic' hurricane

Search and rescue efforts underway in Florida after ‘catastrophic’ hurricane

An aerial picture taken on September 30, 2022 shows the only access to the Matlacha neighborhood destroyed in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida. Ricardo Arduengo | AFP | Getty Images Search and rescue efforts are underway in Florida after a devastating Category 4 hurricane made landfall Wednesday. At least 77 people have been confirmed dead and more than 860,000 people are…

[awutar]

The danger persists after the passage of Hurricane Ian

The danger persists after the passage of Hurricane Ian

People stand on the destroyed bridge to Pine Island as they look at the damage caused by Hurricane Ian in Matlacha, Fla., on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island was badly damaged and could only be accessed by sea or air. . (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) AP People kayaking down streets that were passable a day or two ago. Hundreds of thousands of people without electricity. National…