Florida: Deadly Hurricane Ian leaves trail of destruction

Hurricane Ian hit the offshore islands of Sanibel with full force. In Fort Myers, a popular residential area on Florida's west coast, the first images after the storm resemble a field of debris. There are still no exact figures on fatalities. US President Joe Biden said: "This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida’s history."

The strong waves destroyed the bridges and roads to the island of Sanibel, cutting it off from the mainland. How many people remain on the completely destroyed island, which is not protected by dikes, is still unclear.

The day after the devastating storm, people are getting a sense of the situation. There are motorboats that were washed ashore by the flooding and are now waiting to be recovered. Most of them are probably a write-off. Governor Ron DeSantis spoke of damage of "historic" proportions and flooding that only occurs "once every 500 years."

Fort Meyers was hit particularly hard. Beautiful houses and green spaces were destroyed, in some cases so badly that many will not be able to return to their homes. "Ian" is expected to make the list of the five most severe hurricanes in Florida. "We’ve never seen a flood event like this," Governor DeSantis said.

In Bonita Springs, Jason Crosser and his wife Erica sit in front of his completely destroyed video game store, 8-Bit Hall of Fame. He says he owned inventory worth about $2 million, but was only insured up to $150,000. Many people will have to rebuild everything and many also lost all memories along with their homes.

Many houses are still flooded. Helpers are having a hard time getting to everyone who may still be trapped somewhere. Here in Kissimmee, National Guardsmen help evacuate a nursing home hit by the floods. Also, more than two million households were temporarily without power, the website Poweroutage showed.

Mike McPhillips is in San Carlos Island trying to salvage and sort out his trawling lines. While west coast residents are still trying to save what can be saved after the initial shock, Hurricane Ian moved on and set course for North Carolina. It is now reported to have gone back up to magnitude 5.