Florida family recalls water levels quickly rising around the house during Hurricane Ian: "I was praying a lot"
Recovery efforts in Florida are underway as communities grapple with the catastrophic damage left by Hurricane Ian. The powerful storm is one of the strongest to ever hit the nation and potentially one of the deadliest in state history, according to President Joe Biden.
"Everything on Sanibel is destroyed, that's for sure," Florida resident Patrick Strader said.
Strader and his family decided to stay behind on Sanibel Island along southwestern Florida with their two children, Grant and Nora. The family had just purchased a home on the island two weeks ago and were staying in a rental property as they prepared to move in.
On Wednesday, Ian made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm. It regained hurricane status after it was shortly classified as a tropical storm and is now headed toward South Carolina. At least 700 rescues have been made as the death toll rises, and many homes and businesses are still without power.
The Straders recalled the storm surge during Ian's landfall rushing inside and rattling the walls, with water levels quickly rising all around the house. Patrick said there was "an hour where the wind was coming pretty hard."
"We would've been fine because we're from Fort Lauderdale," Rebecca Strader said. "We know a normal hurricane, but when the surge came through that was when I was freaking out."
At one point, Grant recalled their iPad devices running out of battery and being left without any electricity.
"I was praying a lot," Rebecca said.
The family was stuck on Sanibel Island for two days, as the only road out was ripped away by storm surge. The U.S. Coast Guard later brought them to safety on a helicopter.
The Straders still don't know if their new home was destroyed. Their 90-pound pet tortoises, which have been part of Patrick's family for more than two decades, didn't survive the storm.
The family says they're going "far away from an island" to the New England area next.