Sanibel Island: Timelapse of Hurricane Ian 

As someone from the cold, snowy north who relocated to the tropics, palm trees became a symbol of strength to me. They look so thin and feathery in pictures, but in person they are extremely flexible and very, very tough. A lot of species have fronds as sharp as knives, too. It's a great life lesson--you can look delicate on the outside but still be tough as nails on the inside.

As someone who has been vacationing on Sanibel for over 25 years, and just bought a condo on the island a year and a half before Ian, it is heart wrenching to watch a place that you have loved much of your life be destroyed like this. It's like watching a friend die. Just hoping for a speedy recovery now.

The way the clouds pick up speed and change direction as it moves in is mesmerizing, can’t believe they’re only just now opening the island up again

The formation of the clouds in the first two minutes was mesmerizing. The rest of the video gave me anxiety having lived through many hurricanes myself, including Ian

The fact that you composed the music to this vide - you deserve a BIG LIKE!!

The news kept saying Ian was going to miss us and that it wasnt going to be that bad. The night before warned and told everyone to evacuate and that it was going to be a Cat 5 hurricane. We stayed through it seeing as there was no where for us to go this late and it was the most terrifying experience. We sat in the house listening to our roof literally being ripped apart while fences and debris were being lifted up and thrown around outside the windows. Around 12:30pm when the camera in this video went out is when all hell broke loose, power went out, water lines ruptured, emergency alert sent a message saying "it is no longer safe to be outside". The winds recorded somewhere around 150mph and gusts of up to 180mph i believe. Its incredible that our roof remained somewhat intact though we did get water leaking in every single room, through light fixtures etc.

I spent my three week vacation in Sanibel Moorings Resort. The most joyful, family’s vacations. I cried so much when this hurricane devastated all that area and more. It was so emotional to me. So many, many memories collected and treasured, washed away. Now they are kept in our heart forever. Will return!

Its crazy how you can see the rotation of the clouds... great video!

Mother Nature is the only one in total control. Frightening to watch this unfold. Prayers to all who were affected by this hurricane.

It was definitely a harrowing experience. We left for Irma when they called for pretty much exactly what happened during Ian. This was the first Hurricane we stayed for. Hope your recovery is going well & God Bless.

Thank you for sharing. My parents and I first visited Sanibel in 1994 and moved there in 1997. I graduated from Canterbury in 2002, and I was able to live on island again and send my kids to The Sanibel School from 2014 to 2016. My grandmother lived behind Cheeburger Cheeburger*, and her ground-level house was flooded with at least five feet of surge. She was able to buy a nice condo on the mainland and plans to sell her house as-is, gutted to the studs, once she gets the go-ahead from insurance. I need to go back down there and see it for myself to process it, I think. It was the worst-case storm we always feared. Charley and Wilma and the rest in 2004 and 2005 were just a warning. *Anyone else miss Pippin's? I could really go for some prime rib and a salad bar right now.

Heartbreaking. Never underestimate the power of Mother Nature. Thank you for sharing.

Here in Port Charlotte we were just about ready to go into the attic because the surge was just inches from flooding the house when it stabilized and then stayed that way for about 1/2 hour and then the water started receding -- we felt like it was a miracle.

What really makes me satisfied is the palm trees, I love the swaying they make, they are really strong trees for the beach💪

I am doing complete window & door rehabs at Kings Crown, Blue Gulf, Janthina & Shorewood. Proud to be part of the rebuild party

What an incredible view of the circulatory winds of hurricane!

I saved this in my watch later folder, so I can see it on my 70 inch Samsung UHD tv. We were in St George Island and the projected path was supposed to directly come ashore where we were. We were going to evacuate ahead of it. Then the storm unexpectedly turned eastward and we never even saw one drop of rain. And the water level dropped way down in that area, you could walk far out into areas that are normally underwater. That’s how much moisture got sucked out of the gulf and into that storm.

As a FL native that lived on the West Coast for 46 years and now live in Las Vegas, I don’t miss that crap one bit and love where I am now!!!

This is why you don't build up barrier islands, they are there to absorb the hurricane

WOW!!!-!! Spot on the way you captured the Hurricane Ian, coming to Sanibel......calming music. Thank you for sharing your footage of the before and during of Hurricane Ian. Well Done! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌀

The music is beautiful and suits the footage perfectly.

Coconut palms doing what they do best. Standing up to hurricane force winds like a champ.

Its amazing how well the palms survived. I live just a bit further north than this, and lost every tree except for my palm trees.

Great footage ..... and accompanying music 🎼🎶

Thanks for sharing!❤

Wow that was excellent, scary..poor Sanibel Island 🏝 😢

Thank you for the video and original music.

Palm trees are tenacious the way they hold on against the ferocious onslaught of the eye wall slamming ashore.

I must admit that your scintillating musical score to this great video acts like a compelling counterpoint to the absolute fear and yet wonderment of this impending weather system. MAKE MORE!

Thank you for sharing this incredible video. What a record to have of the storm. Please consider posting the same view so we see it now. I am sad so much destruction happened. I hope you stay and recover to enjoy decades of beauty and joy on your lovely island. Stay safe & best wishes to you and your island family. 🌊🌊🌊

Thank you for sharing.

That’s amazing, thank you for the footage. I live on the coast of NC and have been through my share of hurricanes, but I’ve never seen a Timelapse of the cloud formations until now. It’s unreal to see the rotation and direction shifts like this.

What incredible power. Sanibel/Captiva is such a beautiful area.

Me and my family have spent many happy holidays in the Fort Myers beach area lastly in Point Estero condos. My mother has passed away and it was a place she loved and cherished, my sister can’t travel now because of the number of animals she looks after but this year I was determined to re visit our place of happiness knowing it had suffered badly after the Hurricane. I was devastated to see the structural damage sustained and the huge holes where once stood busy bars and hotels. My “perfect” Point Estero was closed due to damage sustained all its beautiful gardens and pool gone. I will admit I was nearly in tears seeing the church roof ripped off and the small row of shops now boarded up and closed. Beside many homes where RV,s no doubt the homes to those who cannot afford to fix and replace their destroyed homes and it was to them I felt the most sorrow. The big expensive homes have all been rebuilt or new ones erected but not everyone has the money or the excess insurance to cover such huge bills. Many lives changed that day 14 people lost their lives in Fort Myers beach I believe 149 in total everywhere which is a horrendous death toll. Yes the buildings can be rebuilt but those lives cannot be brought back. I walked on the beach, stared at the semblance of the pier that once was the focus of many visitors. Yes it will be rebuilt in some way but the money men will see their chance to redesign and profit so the wee vibrant village that once was Fort Myers Beach to me is gone and unlikely to be built the same way like a throwback to 50,s resorts it resembled. I have great memories of it, it’s people and charm and for that I am very thankful and I hope and pray those who list the most get their homes back their little bit of paradise restored Thanks to all who helped during the hurricane

Devastating. Our ground level home on higher ground was flooded nearly to the ceiling. Respect for nature. And those palm trees, so noble. Great music too.

Thanks for sharing...from Fort Myers

Love the Time Lapse!

I’ve been through many hurricanes and Ian was one of the worst and I live on the east coast of Florida and we had it the worst on the east coast with major flooding, storm surge really did a lot of damage to our beaches and the wind was really nasty. I think we had over 2 feet of rain and much of our neighborhood was under water. We had 5 fatalities from Ian. I think we even had it worse than many on the west coast like Tampa. Many homes on the beaches were teetering over the edge from the beach erosion. Then our dear friend Nicole came through decided to finish the job Ian started so thank you Nicole. She was nasty as well especially her wind. Many homes had a date with the ocean when Nicole came through. The beaches showed strange things after Nicole came through because she added to even more erosion that was covered by beach for many years. I think Florida has had our fair share of hurricanes now. No more please. When we were in S Florida for a funeral (we live in Central Florida) we had a tropical storm in May. That’s 3 for 3 and reminded me of 2004 when we were blessed with Charley, Francis, and Jean. Now I remember why I moved to the mountains of NC and I want to go back. I prefer snow over hurricanes

So powerful. Thanks.

Excellent work that you for sharing it . That is a beautiful area and I pray for all those people it that area . I would love to visit the island again in the near future

Just sad in every way for the residents, vacationers, animals, marine life. Absolute devastation and we really have no desire to return. Visited since early 90 s. Met some great people we still keep in touch with. 😢

Beautiful music

Thanks for sharing this. I hope you and yours are okay.

Amazing video and beautiful music 🎶

Fantastic music, a lovely, lyrical lament.

Those waves are insane!

I have spent 11 weeks on that island over the last 7 years. It broke my heart when this happened. I see many places are re-opening. We hope to go back in a year or two.

I have been there many times. Lived in FL from 1960 to 1997. It got so crowded that we left. It was a beautiful place when I was young.

Walked and shelled the beaches back in the mid 1960s. Best sea shells ever! Captiva was wild, nothing there! That was Florida how I remember it! Folks took us to Ft.Myers beach FLA every Xmas and Easter 60s and 70's best of times. Tons of fun on Estero, so sad to see that fishing pier and all the damage to historic beaches. It shall be restored, God willing!

Our lives will never be the same. Lost a lot due to the storm surge and wind. Was stupid to stay. We are your sister island. Now I can see what was happening before I even looked out my window during the eye. Thank you for the video.

Cool music Marco! Love the reverse tracks!

Wow, that looked really scary at the end. I love Sanibel and I have no idea where to vacation this year for sea shells.

Yikes! We have visited Sanibel and stayed at Compass Point in unit 123 every May or June since about 1999. We hope to come back in a year or two. The power of the wind and storm surge is amazing and frightening!

Always loved Sanibel

Was down there a couple weeks in December volunteering on fmb. Upon arrival off the key west express, my Uber driver (eastern European accent) we passed the police roadblock in complete darkness. I explained I was a volunteering and informed him where I was staying. We drove across the bridge and in complete darkness he said “this is a war zone “. Very sad for them all. Build back better and Godspeed!

I am oceanfront in Daytona Beach Shores it was a spectacular storm. I’ve never seen so much destruction. Luckily we just lost a little of our pool deck it is going to be repaired starting tomorrow

Sanibel is awesome!

Wow. Amazing cloud formations and the accompanying music is beautifully poignant.

My aunt took my cousins and me to Sanibel just a couple months before Ian. It was my first time visiting and we stayed at the Beachview Cottages. Our beautiful and cozy yellow cottage along with the rest of the resort is gone and it breaks my heart.

The saddest thing about this video is the music you hear before you die.

One of my favorite childhood vacations, what a devastating storm.

Most terrifying day of my life and I live 8 miles from Fort Myers Beach

As someone who vacations every summer at the Sanibel Marriott Resort and Spa this brings me to tears. I’m sick to see first hand what’s become of our piece of heaven. First The Island Cow burnt down the weekend after we left and then Ian hits. It’s heart braking. All our friends there have lost so much if not everything. If you can please post a follow up picture to how you found it one you returned. As soon as the area opens up again and we can stay we will be back to help get Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Captiva back. God bless all the first responders.

Nice music for such devastation. 😮

Forgot to mention…. Went every year for past 30 years. ❤❤ / I am an Andrew hurricane survivor (south Miami Dade, Fla/ Country Walk community) so this destruction in Sanibel and areas, really hit hard on us.

If I had known the camera would go out before the strongest part of storm I would not have watched. Well done

The time lapse and position make it look like we are on a ship going very quickly.

I love the music. I didn't read the comment posted along with the video and searched for it with Shazam. Needless to say, no results.

Very cool

The power of a Hurricane is hard to believe ‼️‼️🇨🇦

great video

That was pretty cool 🥸👍

Nice original music!

😃 BEAUTIFUL, A great inspiration for my videos, GOOD GOOD GOOD 👍👍👍👍👍👍

I was watching on that webcam that day up until it failed. Then Ian came and parked right off Cape Coral and sat there for 4 and a half hours just doing us damage. Worst storm I've been through ever, and much worse than Irma.

Poor Sanibel Island 💔😢

This was really a most interesting video - T H A N K S !

Marco that was quite a video. I live across the street near middle gulf intersection. Took 8 feet of water Hope you’re ok

The video sure is a good one. The 1st few minutes are okay. Then I got a panic attack. I went through Hurricane Andrew so this scares the hell out of me

POWERFUL!

Love the Music in this! ( now i want to listen to it more n more ) This place Looks SO AMAZING! and the rain on the camaras make it look like its crying Almost as if they knew something was going to happen. Shame it absolutely Smashed with the storm surge But thats mother natures power it can never be underestimated. HOPEFULLY its Well on its way to bouncing back from this & Stronger, More Beautiful than ever.

So scary, frightening, horrific!!!! 🙏🙏🙏....

Fantastic footage / perspective ! Sanibel is widely known for its seashells and beaches. What's it like now ?

Nice Video, once in a 500 year event, I hate when I see that term used around the country for devasting natural events, no records going back on weather events that far, so how do they know, used to be the term once in a 100 years, now they have used once in a 500 year event. It is true things will be changing going forward. It was nice to see your condo building had natural landscaping oceanside, instead of building so close to the ocean like some do, and just having sand.

Thanks for showing this…wonder how your place fared?

That's just how clouds look we over in the south west of Australia always get those during spring and winter yesterday it looked like tornados were going to form with what kind of clouds we got but it didn't even rain

I wonder if they knew that would be their last walks on that beach looking the way it did for a long while

Dang those trees were ready!

Just WOW

That was a lucky beachfront. Fort myers is still recovering

Amazing. Great upload. The power being unleashed is just phenomenal. I read that the average strength tropical cyclone unleashes the same amount of energy that is used by all humans over the entire planet. The surge is scary....how do moored boats and yachts ride out a hurricane if the storm surge is 16ft high....?

So much love for Sanibel and Captiva - how has Jensen’s fared after the storm?

Brilliant video. Had to watch the first couple of minutes a few times as I was certain there was cloud seeding formation there. Nonetheless really good video.

Great video for a heartbreaking happening. Hard to watch but it's a part of life. Best wishes to those impacted directly 😞 my condolences on your losses. Don't give up, keep the faith. Sending much love your way

If you truly think that we as a people can control or change the environment/climate then you Sir are the Village .....!!!!

Great video, thank you. It's eerie seeing people running around on the beach knowing what was going to happen just one day later. Also, great job on the music. Did you record that at this condo?

It really did not capture the surge as the ones from FM Beach did. Water was 11' on my street in East Ft Myers, and up to 4' in the house. Spent the storm trying to keep my large dog from drowning. I will be haunted by that day forever

It would be interesting to see a time stamp in the corner to follow the progression a bit closer.

Did you have damage to your condo?

Super speedy winds