Search And Rescue Efforts Begin In Southwest Florida

CNN reports:

Search and rescue teams are working to respond to hours-old calls for help that came as Ian – now a tropical storm still marching across Florida – slammed the state’s west coast as a Category 4 hurricane, its surge trapping residents and its monstrous winds and flooding rains leaving millions without power and many without drinkable water.

Collapsed buildings, flooding, downed power lines and impassable roads were reported early Thursday by survey crews in the zone around where Ian slammed the shore near Cayo Costa in southwestern Florida on Wednesday afternoon as one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall on Florida’s west coast.

Rising ocean water piled up onshore – 12 feet in some places – and 150-mph winds whipped as Ian moved deeper inland. 911 call centers in several counties were inundated.

Read the full article.

Florida Search & Rescue is on Fort Myers Beach right now trying to get to people who need help.

Crews are on 3 boats. They tell me they had a report of someone trapped with several animals. Another person swimming suffering from a gash and hypothermia. Gonna be a long night. pic.twitter.com/WaW53h0KW9

— Kyla Galer (@kylagaler) September 28, 2022

Houses are destroyed and some are floating away as Ian’s eyewall hammers southwest Florida. This is video from Fort Myers Beach, Florida off Estero Blvd by Loni Architects pic.twitter.com/6GqrxLRv9Q

— Kaitlin Wright (@wxkaitlin) September 28, 2022

Hurricane Ian slams ashore as a category 4. ABC News chief meteorologist @Ginger_Zee reports on the conditions and destruction from the storm in Fort Myers.

LIVE UPDATES: https://t.co/Yd2bsrua0H pic.twitter.com/VEGFk7EnLo

— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 29, 2022