FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Fort Myers Beach is largely impassable as of Friday morning, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
More devastation is being revealed as authorities are able to survey the damage Hurricane Ian left behind after slamming into southwest Florida Wednesday afternoon.
"Fort Myers Beach is impassable," the sheriff's office said in a Facebook post. "We hear you. We understand you have loved ones on the island. Please understand it’s not safe to drive onto the island. Bicycles cannot even make it through clear pathways."
PHOTOS: Damage to Fort Myers Beach after Hurricane Ian
The agency continued on to say that they would keep the public updated as to when the island would be safe to travel.
Sheriff Carmine Marceno was also seen walking along the beach with executive command staff.
"Fort Myers Beach will never be the same, but we’ll work to rebuild it," the sheriff's office wrote in the post.
Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 4 storm around 3:05 p.m. Wednesday along the southwestern coast of Florida near Cayo Costa, the National Hurricane Center said. It had maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, with even higher gusts.
At 4:35 p.m. Wednesday, Ian made a second landfall — a mainland landfall — south of Punta Gorda as a Category 4 storm packing 145-mph winds.