‘My Street Is a River': Heavy Flooding as Hurricane Ian Inundates Southwest Florida
The Category 4 storm slammed the coast with 150 mph winds and pushed a wall of storm surge accumulated during its slow march over the Gulf of Mexico
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A camera captured as Hurricane Ian’s storm surge submerged a road in Sanibel Island, Fla., over the span of an hour.
Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday in southwest Florida as one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the U.S., swamping city streets with water and smashing trees along the coast.
The hurricane's center struck Wednesday afternoon near Cayo Costa, a protected barrier island just west of heavily populated Fort Myers. The massive storm was expected to trigger flooding across a wide area of Florida as it crawls northeastward across the peninsula.
At a news conference Wednesday evening, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there were over 1.1 million reported power outages in the state. He added that there were reports of structural damage in Lee and Charlotte counties but said storm surge and flooding was the biggest issue.
"This storm is doing a number on the state of Florida," DeSantis said.
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In one area of Naples, vehicles were nearly completely submerged in storm surge from Ian.
Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday and Naples has issued a mandatory curfew for all residents. NBC 6's Chris Hush reports.
Mark Pritchett stepped outside his home in Venice around the time the hurricane came ashore about 35 miles to the south. He called it "terrifying."
"I literally couldn’t stand against the wind," Pritchett wrote in a text message shortly after landfall. "Rain shooting like needles. My street is a river. Limbs and trees down. And the worst is yet to come."
The Category 4 storm slammed the coast with 150 mph winds and pushed a wall of storm surge accumulated during its slow march over the Gulf of Mexico.
About 2.5 million people were ordered to evacuate southwest Florida before the storm hit. Though expected to weaken as it marched inland at about 9 mph, Ian's hurricane force winds were likely to be felt well into central Florida.
Off the coast on Sanibel Island, just south of where Ian made landfall, traffic cameras hours earlier showed swirling water that flooded streets and was halfway up mailbox posts. Seawater rushed out of Tampa Bay as the storm approached, leaving parts of the muddy bottom exposed, and waves crashed over the end of a wooden pier at Naples.
Ian had strengthened rapidly overnight, prompting Fort Myers handyman Tom Hawver to abandon his plan to weather the hurricane at home and head across the state to Fort Lauderdale.
“We were going to stay and then just decided when we got up, and they said 155 mph winds," Hawver said. "We don’t have a generator. I just don’t see the advantage of sitting there in the dark, in a hot house, watching water come in your house."
NASA shared images of Hurricane Ian shot from the International Space Station on Wednesday.
DeSantis said residents who didn't evacuate from high-risk areas had already called in for assistance. He said the state has 30,000 linemen, urban search and rescue teams, and 7,000 National Guard troops from Florida and elsewhere ready to help once the weather clears.
"This is going to be a nasty nasty day, two days," DeSantis said at a news conference Wednesday.
Florida residents rushed ahead of the impact to board up their homes, stash precious belongings on upper floors and join long lines of cars leaving the shore.
Some decided to try and ride out the storm. Jared Lewis, a Tampa delivery driver, said his home has withstood hurricanes in the past, though not as powerful as Ian.
“It is kind of scary, makes you a bit anxious,” Lewis said. “After the last year of not having any, now you go to a Category 4 or 5. We are more used to the 2s and 3s.”
Ian made landfall more than 100 miles south of Tampa and St. Petersburg, sparing the densely populated Tampa Bay area from its first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921. Officials warned residents that Tampa could still experience powerful winds and up to 20 inches of rain.
In a striking scene reminiscent of 2017’s Hurricane Irma, water in Tampa Bay receded ahead of Hurricane Ian’s arrival, leaving the sandy bottom exposed.
“Please, please, please be aware that we are not out of danger yet,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said in a video on Twitter. “Flooding is still going to occur.”
Ash Dugney warily watched ocean water being sucked out below a Tampa Bay pier Wednesday morning. He said he didn’t trust Tampa’s storm drainage system to keep his corner tuxedo rental business safe from flooding that he said has happened even during mild storms.
“I don’t care about the wind and the rain and the stuff like that, I just care about the flooding,” Dugney said, adding that he moved essentials out of the shop and moved other items up to above waist-high level.
Flash floods were possible across all of Florida. Hazards include the polluted leftovers of Florida’s phosphate fertilizer mining industry, more than 1 billion tons of slightly radioactive waste contained in enormous ponds that could overflow in heavy rains.
DeSantis said as Ian moved inland, hurricane force winds were possible in central Florida.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A boat pushes against a Fort Myers apartment after Hurricane Ian passed through the area on Sept. 29, 2022, Florida. Brenda Brennan, pictured, said the boat floated in around 7pm.
Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images
Boats are left stranded on the shore in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida, on Sept. 29, 2022. Hurricane Ian left much of coastal southwest Florida in darkness early on Thursday, bringing “catastrophic” flooding that left officials readying a huge emergency response to a storm of rare intensity.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Cars make their way through a flooded street in the wake of Hurricane Ian, Sept. 29, 2022 in Fort Myers, Florida. The hurricane brought high winds, storm surge and rain to the area causing severe damage.
Ted Richardson/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
Lew Hendrix collects palm branches blown down by the outer bands of Hurricane Ian in Tampa, Florida, Sept. 28, 2022.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Carol Nies, left, and Heidi Smith survey damage left by Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida, Sept. 29, 2022.
Ricardo Arduengo/Getty Images
Streets signs are down in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Punta Gorda, Florida on Sept. 29, 2022.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Boats are pushed up on a causeway after Hurricane Ian passed through the area, Sept. 29, 2022 in Fort Myers, Florida. The hurricane brought high winds, storm surge and rain to the area causing severe damage.
Adalberto Roque/AFP via Getty Images
A lit portrait of Che Guevara is seen in Revolution Square during a blackout in Havana, Sept. 29, 2022. Cuba has been left in the dark since September 27 due to a widespread blackout caused by damage to its power grid following Hurricane Ian.
Ben Hendren/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A woman holds an umbrella inverted by the wind in Tampa, Florida, on Sept. 28, 2022.
Wilfredo Lee/AP
An airplane is overturned by a likely tornado produced by the outer bands of Hurricane Ian, Sept. 28, 2022, at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified as it neared landfall along Florida’s southwest coast Wednesday morning, gaining top winds of 155 mph, just shy of the most dangerous Category 5 status.
Wilfredo Lee/AP
An uprooted tree, toppled by strong winds from the outer bands of Hurricane Ian, in a parking lot of a shopping center, Sept. 28, 2022, in Cooper City, Florida.
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A sign limits the sale of water in Tampa, Florida, Sept. 27, 2022, ahead of Hurricane Ian’s arrival.
Ramon Espinosa/AP
Utility poles tilted by Hurricane Ian in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, Sept. 27, 2022.
Ramon Espinosa/AP
People play dominoes by flashlight during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Sept. 28, 2022. Cuba remained in the dark early Wednesday after Hurricane Ian knocked out its power grid and devastated some of the country’s most important tobacco farms when it hit the island’s western tip as a major storm.
Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images
A man on a street in Havana during a blackout, Sept. 27, 2022. Cuba was left in the dark right after Hurricane Ian swept through the western part of the island, causing damage to the power grid and knocking out power for the entire island.
Ismael Francisco/AP
A blackout triggered by Hurricane Ian in Havana, Cuba, Sept. 28, 2022. Hurricane Ian knocked out electricity to the entire island when it hit the island’s western tip as a major storm.
Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images
A family surveys their flooded home in Batabano, Cuba, Sept. 27, 2022, after Hurricane Ian made landfall on the island Tuesday.
Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images
People walk through a flooded street in Batabano, Cuba, Sept. 27, 2022, after Hurricane Ian swept through the area.
NASA
Hurricane Ian pictured from the International Space Station just south of Cuba, Sept. 26, 2022.
Matias Delacroix/AP
Passenger try to reschedule their flights after many were cancelled or delayed due to Hurricane Ian, at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, Sept. 27, 2022. Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba as a major hurricane and left one million people without electricity, before it churned on a collision course with Florida over warm Gulf waters.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
People walk the beach at sunset in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Ian on Sept. 27, 2022, in Treasure Island, Florida.
Adalberto Roque/AFP via Getty Images
A damaged house is seen in San Juan y Martinez, Pinar del Rio Province, Cuba after Hurricane Ian swept through the island on Sept. 27, 2022.
A sign reading “Ian Not Welcome Here” is seen in Pinellas County where Hurricane Ian is projected to impact the Florida Gulf Coast in Largo, Florida, Sept. 26, 2022.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
A house is boarded up ahead of Hurricane Ian’s arrival in Indian Shores, 25 miles west of Tampa, Florida, Sept. 26, 2022.
Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images
A shopper attempts to find water amid emptied shelves in Kissimmee, Florida, Sept. 26, 2022. Hurricane Ian made landfall in Cuba as a Category 3 on Tuesday, and is expected to strengthen further before making landfall along Florida’s west coast later in the week.
Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images
A Cuban family transport personal belongings to a safe place in Havana, Cuba, Sept. 26, 2022, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Ian. Cuba declared an emergency alert in its six most western provinces as fast-approaching Hurricane Ian was moving northwest towards Cuba and the Cayman Islands with maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour.
Adalberto Roque/AFP via Getty Images
A man carries a sack of food in Batabano, Cuba, Sept. 26, 2022, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Ian.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
Barbara Schueler fills sandbags in a vacant lot in preparation for Hurricane Ian in St. Pete Beach, Florida, Sept. 26, 2022.
Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images
Shoppers wait in line outside a retail warehouse as people rush to prepare for Tropical Storm Ian, in Kissimmee, Florida, on Sept. 25, 2022.
Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images
People pull small boats out of Havana Bay in Havana, Sept. 26, 2022, as Cuba is expected to bear the brunt of Hurricane Ian.
More than 1 million homes and businesses were without electricity, and Florida Power and Light warned those in Ian’s path to brace for days without power.
The federal government sent 300 ambulances with medical teams and was ready to truck in 3.7 million meals and 3.5 million liters of water once the storm passes.
“We’ll be there to help you clean up and rebuild, to help Florida get moving again,” President Joe Biden said Wednesday. “And we’ll be there every step of the way. That’s my absolute commitment to the people of the state of Florida.”
Hurricane Ian Causes Power Outages Throughout Florida
As Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Florida, power outages are expected to grow across the state. The Category 4 hurricane has brought catastrophic winds and flooding to the state.
Source: PowerOutage.us
Credit: Andrew Williams / NBC
