Hurricane Ian Wreaks Havoc in Florida, Leaves Two Million Without Power and Widespread Travel Disruptions

With power and phone lines out in many areas of Florida, a complete picture of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ian is still unclear.

Ian made landfall Wednesday afternoon near Fort Myers as a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds near 150 mph (241 km/h).

The National Hurricane Center said in a statement that a storm surge of 12 to 18’ (3.7 to 5.5 m) and destructive waves hit the southwest Florida coast, from Englewood to Bonita Beach. Officials in Naples said that half the roads in the city were impassable, and a section of the causeway leading to Sanibel island collapsed.

Flash flooding was reported in Orlando after rains hit central and northeast Florida overnight.  One death was reported in Deltona, Florida, after a 72-year-old man drowned, having gone outside to attempt to drain his swimming pool.   Rescuers across the state are attempting to extract people from their flooded homes in many parts of the state.

Meanwhile, power is out to over 2.6 million customers in the state.  Outages are concentrated largely in central and southwest Florida.

Airlines, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, and United Airlines, were forced to cancel at least 4,500 flights through Saturday and more cancellations are expected.

At 10:30 a.m. EDT on Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration website reported that nine airports remain closed in the state, including Orlando International, Tampa International, Airport, Daytona Beach International, Melbourne Orlando International, Naples Airport, and Southwest Florida International. Airports.

In Orlando, major theme parks including Walt Disney World remain shuttered.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)