Days after Category 4 Hurricane Ian came ashore near the tony seaside community, residents are taking stock and trying to put their lives back together.
Hurricane Ian washed away several portions of the Sanibel Causeway, a series of bridges linking the island to the rest of the state. It will require structural rebuilds, Florida's governor says.
A revived Hurricane Ian is bearing down on South Carolina's coast and the historic city of Charleston, with forecasters predicting a storm surge and floods.
Images of the aftermath show a glimpse of the destruction caused by the powerful Category 4 hurricane: homes washed out, boats yanked from their moorings, and decimated neighborhoods.
Rescue crews are wading through water and using boats to rescue Florida residents stranded in the wake of Hurricane Ian. Gov. Ron DeSantis said the U.S. Coast Guard began rescue operations around daybreak.
The hurricane, located miles southeast of Orlando, was losing strength as it made its way across Florida. It was carrying maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.
People with disabilities, people who can't afford it and people who don't want to abandon their pets are among the many who can't easily get up and leave before a hurricane.
Various counties across central Florida are opening up various shelters for the general population. Here are some of the resources being made available for the homeless.
Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba as a major hurricane Tuesday and left 1 million people without electricity. Now it's on a collision course with Florida over warm Gulf waters expected to strengthen it into a catastrophic Category 4 storm.
The National Weather Service's Joel Cline wants residents to know when danger is coming. But he adds, "If people think of a hurricane as a dot and a city as a dot, I think they've missed the point."
Ian had top winds of 125 mph and storm surge up to 14 feet as it moved over the western end of Cuba. It could head for Tampa and St. Petersburg next, the first direct hit on those cities in a century.
Hurricane Ian is nearing Cuba on a track to strike Florida as a Category 4 as early as Wednesday. Ian is already getting stronger and is forecast to move quickly over Cuba's western tip on Monday. Then it will turn northward and slow down over warm Gulf of Mexico waters, conditions ripe for brewing the strongest hurricanes.
Forecasters say Tropical Storm Ian has strengthened into a hurricane as it moves closer to Cuba on a track expected to hit Florida in the coming days. Authorities in Cuba are planning evacuations.
