As of 9:30 pm, Monday October 3, 2022, at least 101 people have passed due to Hurricane Ian. Since last week, over 1,600 people have been rescued in southwest and central Florida. The storm first touched land last Tuesday as a category 3 storm with wind speeds of 125 miles per hour in Cuba. The hurricane then moved up and touched land in Florida near Fort Myers on Wednesday and again near Georgetown, South Carolina on Friday. The storm has impacted Cuba, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and southern Virginia. The eye has only gone through Cuba, Florida, and South Carolina. 

As the storm approached Florida Wednesday, it gained traction. It reached wind speeds up to 155 miles per hour. Hurricane Ian falls just 2 miles per hour short of being considered a category 5 storm. It completely ripped apart the tourist town of Fort Myers and left has 2.6 million people without power in Florida alone. The storm left an estimated 25 billion to 45 billion dollars in insured losses. The only bridge connecting the mainland to the popular winter getaway, Sanibel Island, was destroyed. “Sanibel remains under a 24-hour curfew, and we ask people not to go to the island. We don’t want people staying on the island. We know you’re anxious to do that, but it’s still a dangerous situation out there,” Sanibel’s city manager, Dana Souza, told the Washington Post.

And the tremendous damage does not stop there. The hurricane left many parts of Charleston’s downtown peninsula completely underwater. On top of that, 4 piers along the coast of South Carolina were washed away. Just under 700,000 people were without power in South Carolina due to Hurricane Ian as well. NPR says that Governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, referred to the storm as “very dangerous,” but told reporters, “this is not as bad as it could have been.”

You can help the people in need. You can donate money to recognized disaster relief organizations or you can volunteer your time with trusted organizations that are working in the areas of need. As of right now it is not recommended to go down there but the recovery will last longer than the media coverage.