Although Hurricane Ian has passed over the southwest coast of Florida, the recovery and rebuilding efforts have only just begun.
Houses were ripped apart from the massive Category 4 storm, many boats capsized, power is knocked out for millions and some are still waiting to be rescued from first responders, who are having difficulty reaching them due to the floods.
The damages left behind are astronomical, and according to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, water levels are expected to keep rising.
“We’ve never seen storm surge of this magnitude,” DeSantis said in a news conference Thursday. “The amount of water that’s been rising, and will likely continue to rise today even as the storm is passing, is basically a 500-year flooding event.”
The storm made landfall Wednesday afternoon and was dubbed as “one of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the US,” according to The Associated Press.
As of Thursday, at least one death has been reported following the hurricane -- a 72-year-old man in Deltona, according to AP.
Authorities and EMS services in the affected cities were bombarded with calls during and after the storm.
In Lee County, the sheriff told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that as of Thursday, they’re still trying to navigate the damages and rescue people in need of saving.
“It crushed us,” Marceno said. “We still cannot access many of the people that are in need.”
The storm has since weakened in strength and has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but is expected to resurface on the South Carolina coast, AP reports.
If anyone in the San Antonio area is looking to help those most affected by the hurricane in Florida, the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center is accepting blood donations.
To schedule an appointment, or to learn more, click here.
These images and videos below, courtesy of Getty Images and social media users, captured some of the damage left behind from Hurricane Ian in Florida:
