2022 Hurricane Season

Andrew Jarosh found his Matlacha home in a shambles when he finally got a chance to survey what Hurricane Ian had wrought. However, he didn't count on the visitor that the storm dumped at his property.

A legislative budget panel this week gave Gov. Ron DeSantis millions more dollars to pump into storm recovery projects, two weeks after category 4 Hurricane Ian landed in Southwest Florida and crossed the state. Ian landed nearly 4 years after category 5 Michael hit the Panhandle, where recovery continues.

Insured or not, if you have been impacted by Hurricane Ian, FEMA has one message for you: register for assistance.

Residents must have a current Sanibel Hurricane Reentry pass or a valid Florida driver’s license showing a Sanibel address. Sanibel residents who do not have a Hurricane reentry pass may obtain one at Temporary City Hall (Crowne Plaza Hotel, 13051 Bell Tower Drive, Fort Myers). Anyone who is on the island to assist City residents, property owners, or business owners must be accompanied at all times by a city resident, a property owner, or a business owner while on island.

Danny Ross of Fort Myers counts himself among the community of Florida locals known as "liveaboards," who live permanently on boats in marinas. He rode out Hurricane Ian last week aboard a boat, and he says it nearly killed him and two friends. The 58-year-old Ross says he heeded his extended family's warnings to abandon his own 30-foot boat to stay with two friends aboard their larger 50-foot yacht. It didn't help. The hurricane's 150-mile-per-hour winds snapped dock lines and drove the boat crashing into Edison Bridge. Ross says he pulled his companions to safety, and they treaded through surging waters to a nearby hotel's flooded second-floor lobby. The storm destroyed his own boat. He's now living aboard his friends’ wrecked yacht and says he's learned one important lesson about complacency toward Florida's killer storms: He will never stay for another hurricane.

There is widespread damage on island, causing dangerous conditions throughout the island and particularly in and around various structures. Damage assessments of structures have been completed by Urban Search and Rescue Teams

A notice issued from the city of Sanibel quoted a memo from the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis: "It is anticipated to have the Sanibel Causeway accessible by the end of October. Once immediate recovery efforts have subsided, permanent long-term repairs will be made to the causeway."

The family survived the storm, and so did their house. Now they reckon with what they couldn't save.

Storm surge from Hurricane Ian torn through Vester Marine Research Station, taking research data, samples and more with it.