Hurricane Ian caused mass destruction throughout Flordia. Since hurricane season started in June, multiple hurricanes have come through, destroying land. Ian was a major hurricane that caused a lot of damage with its high winds and extreme rain

In late September, Hurricane Ian, the ninth tropical storm in 2022, formed in the Caribbean. Florida was hit particularly hard, especially in Naples, Pine Island and Sanibel Island, which affected many students who have family members living in Flordia. 

Gallery • 6 Photos

Photo courtesy of Ella Hoover.

Senior Caroline Otter’s grandmother has a condo on Sanibel Island, and it suffered some damage.

“Thankfully her condominium was okay with a little bit of water damage but other people who didn’t have hurricane shutters lost everything,” said Otter. “Also her car is completely gone.”

Another area in Florida that got flooded and partially destroyed was Fort Myers. Most of the damage that occurred resulted from the vast amounts of water. Some damage was definitely caused by the extreme winds, but overall the damage from the water was so much worse. 

During any hurricane, there is something that occurs called a storm surge and a storm tide. A storm surge is when a storm causes an unnatural rise of water that is above the predicted amount of astronomical tides. Storm tide is when storm surge and astronomical tide work together to cause the water level to rise.

Hurricane Ian had a very high storm surge. In Fort Myers, Florida, Ian’s surge is predicted to have risen as high as 13.23 feet which means that more than 10 feet of ocean water was above ground that was normally dry. 

Senior Ella Hoover’s aunt lives in a three-story house in Fort Myers year-round, and she and her community faced a lot of destruction caused by mass amounts of water. 

“The water was tall enough to cover her second floor,” said Hoover. “People were trying to live out of their boats and they were just floating around the streets. When my aunt woke up one day and all the water was gone, she found her car was in the pool.” 

Hurricane Ian caused a number of deaths, especially in Florida. It was reported that a total of 48 people died in the storm. 

Florida is not the only place that suffered. The Caribbean and both the Carolinas also particularly got hit by Ian, although the damages were not as significant as they were in Florida. 

Specifically, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and western Cuba got extremely heavy rainfall and dangerous surf. In South Carolina, there were mass amounts of rain, but not much severe damage occurred. North Carolina suffered from great amounts of rain too, but they also had a lot of reports that the high winds were knocking down trees and poles. 

Between Florida and the Carolinas, Hurricane Ian caused an estimate of about $67 billion in damages. This makes Ian the most catastrophic storm in Florida’s history.