FORT MYERS, Fla. – Headlights illuminate the dusty roads under the soft skin of the pre-dawn light. With the landscape in ruins, it’s a new day in Southwest Florida.
People using heavy machinery move boats, structures and personal belongings on the sides of roads. Survivors of these communities who evacuated are also returning to homes destroyed and memories erased by Hurricane Ian’s record storm surge.
Mike Mauger lost his home to the hurricane and doesn’t know where to go from here.
“Hopefully, we have insurance, some kind of insurance. According to the insurance companies, they were denying us right away,” he shrugged. “I don’t know how that works. I do not know. I just don’t know.”
Standing in their driveway, Mauger and his partner look at their belongings in horror. The anguished look on their faces is unbearable, as the interior of their house has already been stripped bare. Now only the frame is made of wood and concrete.
A damaged trailer park after Hurricane Ian passed through the area Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, in Fort Myers, Florida. Photo/Steve Helber
Up and down your block, every house now looks like this. Meanwhile, the American Red Cross is on the ground trying to help.
“Looking around right now, there’s nothing more clear that people are going to need help for a long time,” said Lori Arnold, spokeswoman for the Red Cross.
Residents roam their communities, trying to save what they can. The shock begins to wear off and sadness everywhere takes over.
Shrimp boats that came from further down the coast sit on the remains of a mobile home park, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, on San Carlos Island, Fort Myers Beach, Fla.AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
“It’s catastrophic, and I know if we feel that way, we’re not the only ones,” Fort Myers Beach resident Sheena Brook Stockton said.
She and her wife took refuge in their house which was partially destroyed by the storm. Clutching their belongings in their arms, the pair left the island for safety immediately afterward, both grateful to be alive.
“So many people have given so much to help us survive…just beach residents taking care of beach residents. I think it’s that support that keeps us going, keeps us alive,” said Brook Stockton .
A destroyed vehicle lies among the debris after Hurricane Ian tore through the area on October 8, 2022 in Sanibel, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
With search and rescue operations still ongoing in the barrier islands, many residents are unable to return to what is left of their homes and belongings.
And as the long days and nights continue, suffering seeps into the living.
Moya Group officials survey damage to the bridge leading to Pine Island to begin building temporary access to the island after Hurricane Ian in Matlacha, Florida, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. AP Photo /Gerald Herbert
“The immensity of how this hurricane has affected everyone equally. Disasters don’t discriminate,” Arnold said.
Indeed, Ian was an impartial and catastrophic storm, sweeping away feelings of anxiety, stress and worry about what the next steps will be for the millions of survivors in its wake.