People kayaking down streets that were passable just a day or two earlier. Hundreds of thousands without power. National Guard helicopters flying rescue missions to residents still stranded on Florida’s barrier islands.
Coast Guard personnel help evacuate residents who rode out the storm, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Florida’s Pine Island, in Lee County, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island is heavily damaged so it can only be reached by boat or air. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Days after Hurricane Ian carved a path of destruction from Florida to the Carolinas, the dangers persisted, and even worsened in some places. It was clear the road to recovery from this monster storm will be long and painful.
Snowbird Bob Fennessey of Montreal, Canada, clears out storm-damaged items from his condo, as ruined furniture and a car from his neighbors’ vacation home sits on the lawn, after storm surge filled the first story of their houses during the passage of Hurricane Ian, near San Carlos Boulevard in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
And Ian was still not done. The storm doused Virginia with rain Sunday, and officials warned that major flooding was possible along its coast Monday.
Residents who rode out the storm arrive at a dock to evacuate by boat in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, on Pine Island in Florida’s Lee County, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island is heavily damaged so it can only be reached by boat or air. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Ian’s remnants moved offshore and formed a nor’easter that was expected to pile even more water into an already inundated Chesapeake Bay and threatened to cause the most significant tidal flooding event in Virginia’s Hampton Roads region in the last 10 to 15 years, said Cody Poche, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Norfolk and Virginia Beach declared states of emergency.
Responders from the de Moya Group survey damage to the bridge leading to Pine Island, to start building temporary access to the island in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Matlacha, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island is heavily damaged so it can only be reached by boat or air. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Other portions of the Atlantic coast could see higher tides than usual. The island town of Chincoteague in Virginia declared a state of emergency Sunday and strongly recommended that residents in certain areas evacuate. The Eastern Shore and northern portion of North Carolina’s Outer Banks were also likely to be impacted.
People stand on the destroyed bridge to Pine Island as they view the damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Matlacha, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island is heavily damaged so it can only be reached by boat or air. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
At least 68 people have been confirmed dead: 61 in Florida, four in North Carolina and three in Cuba.
Tami Tackett hugs her husband Dewey Tackett as he evacuates by boat and she remains, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Pine Island, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island is heavily damaged so it can only be reached by boat or air. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
In Florida, Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy told NBC’s “Today Show” on Monday that the search and rescue mission would be taking place for the next couple of days. Murphy said that was why residents who evacuated are largely being kept away from their homes.
Melanie Kayson, a resident of Pine Island who rode out the storm on the island, cries as she is evacuated in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Pine Island in Lee County, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island is heavily damaged so it can only be reached by boat or air. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
With the death toll rising, Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said the federal government was ready to help in a huge way, focusing first on victims in Florida, which took the brunt of one of the strongest storms to make landfall in the United States. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden plan to visit the state on Wednesday.
Boats operated by resident good Samaritans help evacuate residents who stayed behind on Pine Island, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Matlacha Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island is heavily damaged so it can only be reached by boat or air. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Flooded roadways and washed-out bridges to barrier islands left many people isolated amid limited cellphone service and a lack of basic amenities such as water, electricity and the internet. Officials warned that the situation in many areas isn’t expected to improve for several days because waterways are overflowing leaving the rain that fell with nowhere to go.
CORRECTS DATELINE TO MATLACHA, FLA., INSTEAD OF SPRING HILL – Destruction at the bridge leading to Pine Island is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Matlacha, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island is heavily damaged so it can only be reached by boat or air. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
About 600,000 homes and businesses in Florida were still without electricity on Monday morning, down from a peak of 2.6 million.
The current goal is to restore power by Sunday to customers whose power lines and other electric infrastructure is still intact, Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said Monday. It does not include homes or areas where infrastructure needs to be rebuilt.
A decorative item recovered from the wreckage of Getaway Marina sits on a table to be saved, as owner Robert Leisure begins the long process of rebuilding his business after the passage of Hurricane Ian, on San Carlos Boulevard in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
More than 1,600 people have been rescued statewide, according to Florida’s emergency management agency.
Rescue missions were ongoing, especially to barrier islands near Fort Myers in southwest Florida that were cut off from the mainland when storm surges destroyed causeways and bridges.
Fish lie dead at the edge of a road after the passage of Hurricane Ian, inside a trailer park on San Carlos Boulevard in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
The state will build a temporary traffic passageway for the largest one, Pine Island, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday, adding that an allocation had been approved for Department of Transportation to build it this week.
CORRECTS DATELINE TO MATLACHA, FLA., INSTEAD OF SPRING HILL – Responders from the de Moya Group survey damage to the bridge leading to Pine Island, to start building temporary access to the island in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Matlacha, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island is heavily damaged so it can only be reached by boat or air. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
“It’s not going to be a full bridge, you’re going to have to go over it probably at 5 miles an hour or something, but it’ll at least let people get in and off the island with their vehicles,” the governor said at a news conference.
Canoes and kayaks sit tied up to a sign on a flooded street in Seminole County, Fla., on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. Residents in central Florida donned fishing waders, boots and bug spray and canoed or kayaked to their homes on streets where floodwaters continued rising Sunday despite it being four days since Hurricane Ian tore through the state. (AP Photo/Mike Schneider)
In Virginia, the U.S. Navy postponed the first-ever deployment of the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, according to a statement from the Navy’s 2nd Fleet. The carrier and other U.S. ships were scheduled to leave Norfolk on Monday for training exercises in the Atlantic Ocean with vessels from other NATO Countries.
Responders help evacuate Andy Sherwood, a resident who rode out the storm, and had a hip replacement five weeks earlier, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Pine Island, in Florida’s Lee County, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island is heavily damaged so it can only be reached by boat or air. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Coast Guard, municipal and private crews have been using helicopters, boats and even Jet Skis to evacuate people over the past several days.
A bathroom lies exposed and missing fixtures at Getaway Marina, as owner Robert Leisure begins the long process of rebuilding his business after the passage of Hurricane Ian, on San Carlos Boulevard in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
In rural Seminole County, north of Orlando, residents donned waders, boots and bug spray to paddle to their flooded homes Sunday.
A photograph of an unknown family found by the Hudson family of Canada at their vacation home after the passage of Hurricane Ian rests alongside tools recovered from their storm-surge damaged garage level, near San Carlos Boulevard in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Ben Bertat found 4 inches (10 centimeters) of water in his house by Lake Harney after kayaking there.
Contractors work to clear debris from the wreckage of Getaway Marina where owner Robert Leisure (not pictured) has begun the long process of rebuilding his business after the passage of Hurricane Ian, on San Carlos Boulevard in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
“I think it’s going to get worse because all of this water has to get to the lake” said Bertat, pointing to the water flooding a nearby road. “With ground saturation, all this swamp is full and it just can’t take any more water. It doesn’t look like it’s getting any lower.”
Linda Newman, a resident of Pine Island who rode out the storm on the island and recently lost her husband, waits to be evacuated in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Pine Island in Lee County, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island is heavily damaged so it can only be reached by boat or air. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
