Array
Parts of southwest Florida have been left unrecognizable in the wake of Hurricane Ian.
The Category 4 storm ripped through neighborhoods like Sanibel Island and Fort Myers Beach last Wednesday after making landfall nearby in Cayo Costa, a barrier island off the coast of Fort Myers.
Officials in the region announced within hours of landfall that places like Sanibel Island and Fort Myers Beach had been «decimated» by the storm.
At the time, nearly all of Lee County was without power, and hundreds of people were stranded due to high water, officials from Lee County Emergency Management announced during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Before and after images offer a stark perspective on the level of damage some of the hardest-hit areas experienced.
The slow-moving hurricane churned over the same area for so long that it was not until dawn broke on Thursday that officials would fully realize the devastation it left behind.
