FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Hurricane Ian devastated areas of southwest Florida when it swept through on Wednesday, causing catastrophic flooding, storm surge and wind damage.
People in its path were left without homes, power or access to major roadways.
Exclusive Sky10 aerial video shows the catastrophic damage in Fort Myers Beach, Naples, Sanibel Island, Estero Island and Iona.
The video shows rubble where homes and buildings once stood along the coast of Fort Myers Beach. Additional footage shows multiple feet of water from a storm surge surrounding communities, in some cases reaching the homes' windows and doors.
Marina and boat docks can be seen completely collapsed along the coast, with large boats turned on their sides and stacked on top of one another. Fires also broke out at some southwest Florida homes after the hurricane swept through.
Our aerial footage shows the section of the Sanibel Causeway destroyed by Ian. It was rendered unusable after large chunks of pavement crumbled into the surrounding water.
Ian made landfall as a Category 4 storm around 3:05 p.m. along the southwestern coast of Florida near Cayo Costa, according to the National Hurricane Center. It had maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, with even higher gusts.
At 4:35 p.m., Ian made a second landfall — a mainland landfall — south of Punta Gorda as a Category 4 storm packing 145-mph winds.
