Future uncertain for Fort Myers Beach 

Worst possible case scenario, fema predicted over a decade ago, a cat 5 will enter there and would create 100 billion dollars in damage.

Unfortunately this area will not be the same for a very long time. Took 5 years to recover from hurricane Andrew. My prayers are with everyone. Just a heartbreaking mess to see that once beautiful area like this.

I went through this after Hurricane Katrina here in New Orleans. It’s going to take work and patience but you guys will get through this if you stay strong. Rely on each other and come together as a community. Be wary of contractors, make sure that they are licensed and check them out. Especially the out of state storm chasers. Get on Fema and don’t let up; don’t take the first no from your insurance company. The red cross will also help, contact them. Good luck, you got this! 👍🏻🙏🏻

You haven’t lost everything. You are ALIVE! Already a good reason to be grateful!

Everyone never knows the day it all goes fast in any state all over the USA. Always be ready for everything. No one is safe today. Blessing to you all and healing, RIP who died.

We Americans seem to be VERY helpful to other countries when they go through similar like this, but here's how much we will most likely received from other countries: $00,000,000,000

This was my childhood home, I visited every year, even moved back after I got married and raised my children here. I’m crying over this

From Tampa Bay, our prayers are with you. We are working to send supplies and help as quickly as possible. Stay strong Ft Myers!

I was flooded in sandy ten years ago. I fixed my house and then lifted it The town changed. Rich builders bought up property from older people who could not keep up. Property value was low Work was slow. I couldn’t keep up with the cost of repair and lifting. Had to sell at a loss after years of struggling. That’s what is going to happen to these people in florida

Fort Myers is my second home. My people are strong. We will rebuild and be better than ever before. A piece of me is broken, but healing happens with time.

Idk how people can live on little islands, I’ll stay in north central Florida 160 feet above sea level. Prayers

People need to start making what I call Executive Decisions. I looked to move to Ft Meyers and saw how prone to hurricane damage it was. I went elsewhere. We need to stop building on the coastal areas.

So profoundly sad that most didn't take Ian seriously, as the man in the glasses admits. Heartbreaking.

Prayers from Southeast Louisiana as this was us just last year! Long hard road to recovery!

I’m so sorry this happened I was watching everything unfold on the tv in shock. I love Florida so much it’s my favorite place wonderful people my heart breaks for you Lauren-NJ

God I pray you touch these people and scoop them up into your loving arms. Give them strength, hope and renew their faith in you. For those still missing, please sustain them in the comfort of your love and heal their wounds as well as their hearts. Bless the rescuers and give them the strength to carry on in the search until there are no more missing. Lord, we know you can heal all wounds and broken hearts and I’m asking you to do so. Thank you for all the lives that have been saved. All the things destroyed can be replaced & the hearts will mend but please renew the survivors and let your Spirit abide in them always. Bless each and every survivor, casualty, rescuer and give them a sense of peace knowing you are a loving God and that you will see them through. I’m humbly asking you these things in Jesus name. Amen😇❣️

Its heartbreaking to see what Ian did to this beautiful place. I spent my last vacation day in Florida at Fort Myers beach enjoying the sundowner at the pier...my heart is bleeding, i felt in love with this area. My prayers are with all Floridians 😭❤️...i am from Germany and my heart was deeply touched by the friendly people over there

Such utter destruction, I feel for those people who lost all, I hope they get the proper assistance from the government and their insurance agency, FT. Myers looks like a war zone, god bless those people.

why they didn't move the boats up north? tampa is not far from there.

I really feel for everyone there please stay strong in keep your hopes up it's not going to be the same area but you got people in you all can pull back in get it where it was my prayers are with you all

As someone who lost my house in a tornado, I emplore everyone to check your homeowners policy and make sure you have guaranteed replacement.

A friend of me lost her home and her car floated who knows where. Her insurance company told her she has to find the car before they can process a claim. I get it, but there needs to be special consideration for these people who have lost everything.

One thing to learn is evacuate even if you are not sure about if it will be cat 3 to higher. I feel like people underestimated the fact that it could strengthen fast the way it did from cat 3 to almost cat 5 which came as a surprise to most. Sending prayers to people in florida and everyone affected in this 🙏❤.

Sending my prayers to the whole of florida

I live in ft.myers and the destruction is beyond words. It felt and sounded just like when your getting your car washed and the dryer kicks in. Roaring and shaking violently. My house and myself are ok. Scary night.

Building on barrier islands or in a storm surge susceptible area never was and never will be a good idea. They should ban rebuilding.

This is bad, but we will rebuild. I'm a Fort Myers native and have lived on the beach for the past 30+ years. I'll miss the places where my childhood memories were made, such as the Dairy Queen there at the Pier. Or late-night runs to 7-11 just down the street. But we will rebuild. We have to. This place is just magical for the 10,000+ days I've gotten to live here. My condo building is trashed. My unit has some damage, but minor in the overall scheme of things. I'm hoping we'll have the place put together enough to celebrate Christmas there. Still completely surreal to me, like I'm stuck in a bad dream. Fortunately my dreams are still of normal times. When I wake up everything still feels normal... Until I look outside the window and realize things have been permanently changed.

My heart breaks for those without insurance that covers your full extend of loss who will always be behind. As someone who could not recover from a setback, I lost all my life’s savings and now live very humbly in a community 4 hours away from where I grew up just to have a roof over my head. It’s life altering. God bless you all. May you survive and trive.

I am sorry for these people. But hurricanes are a reoccurring feature of South Florida. There was Irma (Cat 5) in 2017, Charley (Cat 4) in 2004. One has to be aware that having property there means to have it hit every 10-20 years or so. Especially of you live close to the sea. And with the warming of the the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean and the Gulf the frequency and the power of hurricanes will probably increase.

I lived in Florida for 4 years evacuated 3 times, While others stayed. The problem is the media blows these storms out of proportion to generate fear. So when a bad one comes people won't leave cause they are being lied to 98% of the time.

I keep hearing people say "I didnt think it would be that bad i figured I'd ride it out A catagory 4 Hurricane ...iwill never understand the mind set behind this behavior.

I am sad for people who lost their lives and those who lost everything near and dear to them.

It's hard to accept this now, but as long as you have survived, and your family and those you care for survived, you have NOT lost everything!!! Our possessions, our "stuff" is always a temporary arrangement. People and places recover from hurricanes.. Life will likely never be exactly the same for anyone directly affected by an event like this, but life is always in flux. Hurricanes are not the only cataclysm that can take our stuff away, but humans are incredibly resilient, and people will come through this disaster just like people have done countless times before.

My prayers for affected victims and Rescue Workers. Trust God, He will comfort and strengthen you. Help will come! Shalom. 🙌😇💙🙏 💪

This is where my friends go for vacation. So sad for a whole town destroyed. So horrible people lost everything they own. When the man said he had no money to go anywhere is just making me cry. I pray for everyone effected by this raging weather and pray they can rebuild but please not near the oceans. Be safe and don't chance losing your home again because of the weather changing so much.

terrible i feel for Ft Myers and all of Florida, praying and sending love to Florida, Michigan behind you as the whole nation, were Americans and nothing stops us, Florida will be stronger and better, Love from Detroit, Michigan

Stop sending the money to Ukraine! Send it to the people in Florida

Love and positive vibes going out to Ft. Myers with love from Jacksonville.

I rode the storm out in my car, in the Publix drop off spot . In corkscrew village @ corkscrew road & 41.. I'm no stranger to hurricanes but lemme tell you whhat ! The only way to describe the sound of the storm was roaring, Like a savage beast & I was bumping shoulders with it. Hearing the transformers blow, losing complete cell reception. Even though I was tucked away in a good spot, The wind was shaking the car as if a freight train was passing by at full speed.Truly a sobering & terrifying moment. I got great footage of it cuz I had nothing else to do at the time. I'm fortunate to have survived where some of my other fellow Floridians didnt. My heart aches for the folks on ft Myers/bonita beach, Captiva, Sanibel, Bokeelia.. Peace & Love

A piece of paradise turn into a horror site

Good Lord what y'all are going through. Heart felt compassion and prayers from all of us!

Future isn’t uncertain, they’ll rebuild and be back to normal in a couple years

Anytime you live by the ocean this is how it goes when conditions are right fir this to happen best be on the weather stations at all times especially during Hurricane season.

Everybody has to pitch in 🙏

My heart goes out to everyone there. Sending love and strength from Canada. At least your governor cares about you and that will help a lot. Wish we could say the same about our leaders. Hang in there. Praying for all of you! Remember what matters the most ❤

I feel sorry for all the loss. It's really sad From Pakistan

Its cliche but my heart dies ache. I spent my 50th bday there in February. So beautiful. I truly pray for everyone.

Reminds me of Homestead where we went through Hurricane Andrew. Most of the south end of the county was not recognizable. It takes a long time to recover from something like that. Living or working on a beach area is a calculated risk. The odds are stacked against you. Best of luck to everyone, stay safe !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I recommend rebuilding somewhere else(once you get the insurance, donations, and government payouts)? I lived in Florida for over a decade. Living near the beach during calm waters is lovely (and even addicting) but not worth the risk. When I relocated at first went through withdrawal pains missing the ocean and the intercostal. But, like any addiction you eventually adjust and carry on.

Devastating .... Some areas should not be developed to a dense extent given the low topography.

This absolutely shatters my heart! This was my home away from home and fell in love with FMB. I was there last June and last December and it was hard to look at this place. May God bless that land! 💔💔💔

Prayers for all! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Don't know how they can build these kinds of communities in Hurricane Alley like that.

Very sad,praying for you all

Our prayers our with you Florida State. God bless you ❤️ From Newfoundland Canada 🙄

Rest in peace to the people who died from this hurricane. This is horrifying. This life is getting worse.

Stay strong. Keep working, we're thinking and praying for you!

Material things can be replaced, but a human life cannot be replaced, They are Blessed to be alive!!! Don't give up hope!!

Fort myers is my home for last 16 years and devastated by the lives lost and destruction.. but let me tell you “ Ian you can scare us not defeat us .. we will overcome “…

How do you charge your EV during this?

"Imagine being inside your dishwashing machine for 8 hours!" That's not even half as bad as being in a hurricane for the same 8 hours!

America had billions to send to Ukraine, she jus better have billions to help her own

My heart breaks for everyone affected humans and animals..

It’s going to take some time but I pray they rebuild Times Square or some thing similar. Fort Myers is such a vacation destination and since they don’t really have a downtown per se, Times Square was where everyone met and hung out With great Restaurants on the beach and the tiki bar across the street at the lighthouse inn. It will never be the same but maybe it will be an even better version of what it was. The squares in the villages near Orlando are full of beautiful shops wonderful restaurants music and dancing in the streets. This would be my wish for that corner of Fort Myers someday. But it’s too soon. These people need to grieve and breathe. I don’t even own property down there but I have vacation down there a few times and it holds very special memories for me. I’ve been crying every day but I can’t even imagine that the images I’m seeing on TV tell the whole story or even come close to the devastation that is there. To say I’m sorry for everyone’s loss sounds so empty and shallow but the sentiment is truly heartfelt. I am rooting for the people of Fortmeyer and all surrounding areas that were impacted by the hurricane

They will recover, but it will take years. For many, the psychological and emotional damage will break them - for others, they'll be scarred for life and suffer from various forms of PTSD. We had Hurricane Harvey hit here in Rockport, TX., 5 years ago. For the most part, it took three years for life to get back to "normal" AND everyone is still on edge during Hurricane Season (I'm one of those people, checking the National Hurricane Center website 3-4 times every day). Because businesses were lost or destroyed, so were the jobs they provided to people in each community. Housing becomes an immediate issue because you need places to put the people who are going to stay but have no place to live for the next 12-24 months. The tax base is gone too. Without people and businesses, how do you generate Tax Revenue? And, because of the massive damage, property values/assessments immediately plunge. It's a bad situation but people are strong and they will overcome the hardships, it just takes time.

Crazy damage. Very Sad. I hope most people evacuated. Alice and I hearts goes out for all that are suffering.

All i Wana say is ...this is gonna happen if you live so close to the beach...the risk is so much bigger. Beautiful town but bigger risk.

So sad to see people have lost everything i pray that the families that lost everything they remain strong in the Lord

Looks like Mexico Beach after Michael in 18 when I was there.

Brings back memories of seeing so many people walking around looking like zombies after Andrew 30 years ago. I was one of the lucky/ stupid ones that never left the Keys. Once the bridge open south I cared for so many after the hurricane in our ER truly zombies their eyes glassed over not having the first clue what to do because they were still in shock and despair needing a hand, hug free water and a direction to start their road to a mental recovery because most had lost everything many without insurance and those that did have insurance were made to wait months just to get any $ for a place to stay.

Thanks for posting, not fun… remember those too who were affected by flooding two months ago and the tornados over the summer… A lot going on. Great though that we good resources here in America; and great to see neighbors helping each other…Thankful to live here. 🇺🇸

So heartbreaking watching this feed. Prayers gif all those who have lost so much and prayers for strength during the long recovery.

Let this be a reminder that people should not build too close to the beach.

First images in video are NOT “Downtown Fort Myers”, but Fort Myers Beach.

Pray for you guys. Can't imagine losing all the memories and everything you had.

Incredibly sad, but at this point can take it as an opportunity to rebuild the west coast of florida to be a modern, strong, futuristic place

Rebuild n take your chances again? I’m outta there!

🙏🙏🙏GOD'S PEACE, COMFORTS, CARES AND RESTORATIONS FOR ALL THE FOLKS HAVE BEEN THROUGT DEVASTATIONS WITH THE STORM IAN. IT'S A HEART BROKEN.💔💔💔.

65 years ago i saw Ft Meyer's beach when a lot of the houses were built 10 ft above ground on pilings. They knew about the power of hurricanes then. People forget very quickly.

Well when you build next to the ocean expect it someday nothing to do with climate change just normal hurricane every year

Prayers for people affected by Ian.❤❤

My heart goes out to all the people affected by Hurricane Ian ... thoughts and prayers from Australia xo

It took years for my town on the beach in New Jersey to recover. The Jersey shore did it. Not that stupid show, but our community did

We lost our home in Indiana to a fire and it doesn't matter how your home was lost, it's traumatizing to see your home gone and the worst feeling to feel is to just stand there looking at it and wondering what do I do? What's next? And the aftermath just feels never ending. The things you planned for the money you saved up for certain important things all of it completely changed and thrown off course. I don't wish those feelings on my worst enemy.

I’m glad I didn’t move there in 2019 like I was planning! My prayers are with you! ❤from Fort Lauderdale, FL❤

I'd like to know about the man that was interviewed who said his boat was his home and it was all he had and he was NOT going to leave the boat for the hurricane he was staying on his boat to ride it out...

Oh boy, my sister lived there, she loved it. She died 8 yrs ago, but that city is in shambles! 😵

Don't worry. You're alive. The property can be replaced. Insurance will pay for it. Of course, they will increase your premiums by 10-25%. And you can go right back to building whatever you lost in the same place. 🤔

Never underestimate mother nature 😬

Let’s spend a trillion dollars to rebuild so it will be under water in 20 years .

So sorry god bless them my daughter was there but she came back too Iowa in August

There is a future if you want to pay $8,000 a year for insurance and another 8,000 for flood insurance.

Commentator says "This is downtown Ft Myers" while showing Ft Myers Beach. Ft Myers Beach is a separate town that is mostly on a barrier island. Ft Myers proper is mostly inland a few miles along the Caloosahatchee river. My wife and I sold our home on Ft Myers Beach 2 years ago, our hearts go out to all our friends and neighbors on the beach. We hope the best for you all.

Godspeed Florida 🙏❤

Time for America to think building houses out of bricks and concrete instead of wood and plastic

It's unfortunate that, many years ago, construction and development was allowed on barrier islands which are composed entirely of sand that's barely above the level of the ocean. In a big hurricane, the storm surge submerges the entire island and wrecks everything. Better to not have anything in the way when that happens, but it's way too late now.

How many times have I seen people say, "It's not going to be so bad, we thought it would be ok" only to say later, "Oops, BIG mistake"?

I'm i the only on dumbfounded that Joseph Ranlett REALLY figured he'd ride it out in a Mobile home ?? He's too old to actually believe that, THEN try it. He's lucky he's here.

So sad 😂 God Bless Fort Myers Florida such trajedy 🙏 🙏🙏🙏♥️ To All of you so much heartache Unbelievable Stay strong God is with you Love 😘 Florida

Its not fair to say "well, they should have taken this more serious"..........No preparation could have saved them from 15ft deep storm surge. Ian blew through all the standard hurricane prevention built into homes and businesses. I was just there a few weeks ago and I loved it. 😢😢