Hurricane Ian: KDKA's Chris Hoffman documents staggering loss and neighbors banding together
Note: KDKA-TV's Chris Hoffman and Ian Smith are in Florida covering the aftermath of Hurricane Ian for CBS News. They share their experience below, as told by Chris Hoffman.
FORT MYERS, Fla. (KDKA) — We started on their journey to Florida on Thursday, the day after Hurricane Ian pounded the southwest Gulf Coast.
We flew into Ft. Lauderdale that night to get ready for the next day. Our job was to get stories for CBS News to share with the other station in the company.
The staff at the hotel told us they got some heavy rain from Hurricane Ian in Ft. Lauderdale, but it didn't cause any significant damage. A few people had cracks for photographer Ian Smith since he shares the same name as the hurricane.
As we drove more than two hours from Fort Lauderdale to Fort Myers, we went through the Florida Everglades. For most of that drive, you couldn't tell an almost Category 5 storm pummeled the state. It was a cloudless sky and almost everything looked fine.
On the outskirts of Fort Myers, we started to find trees that were leaning or had fallen over, but it was very minor damage compared to what we would see later on in this assignment.
KDKA Videographer Ian Smith has a look at the destruction:
Our first interview was in Fort Myers Shores. We spoke with Anthony Roman. He is a Pittsburgh native who evacuated his home and came back to find mud and debris all over the house. His house had about 3 to 4 feet of water inside, and he lives about 20 miles from the beach.
The home is along the Intercoastal Waterway, so the storm surge appeared to be the cause of the flooding. For Roman, he was on his second day of cleaning so much of the dirt was gone. But he still had a thin layer throughout his home.
Much of the damage in this area was flooding. We saw a few trees down, but most people were dealing with water-soaked homes.
As we drove to get closer to town, we found a line of people waiting for the grocery store to open. In speaking with one of them, we learned many of the people were waiting for ice. Since they had no power, their refrigerator and freezers were not working. They were grabbing ice to make sure what food they did have did not go bad.
Once we got into the downtown area, you could see more trees down. Roads were clear, but along the sides, you could see where boats were dumped and thrown into trees. Many palm trees had their leaves ripped out.
We did see one restaurant that was open and had customers. There was not too much structural damage.
Along the waterfront, one marina was ripped apart. Boats were slammed into each other and dumped on land. One was easily 200 feet away from the water. The docks, which were a cement base, ended up all over the place. The storm surge carried them and dumped them wherever it wanted.
As it faded to night in Fort Myers, a causeway was the dividing line for electricity. On one side, it looked normal. The streetlights were on and buildings looked like nothing happened. On the other side, it was dark. There were no working streetlights and no buildings appeared to have power.
The drive to the hotel in Osprey proved to be a challenge. Interstate 75 flooded and was closed. Several other roads then started to back up and the flooding spread to the detours.
On Saturday, we started the day by looking for gas. Many stations had no power or gas. We were never so happy to see a Wawa. There were lines as people needed to get gas for their vehicles and generators.
One person told us she was in line for gas the day before and she was the cutoff for when the station ran out of gas. It was that much of a challenge for people to be able to get something we take for granted.
Our story took us to the North Port area, which is between Sarasota and Fort Myers. It was hit by flooding. The rain in Orlando slowly dumped into waterbodies in this area. Whole neighborhoods were cut off from roads because of the flooding.
In some cases, people were driving through deeper water. One road, in particular, was the detour to get to I-75. The road was buckled in parts, and we could see when trucks were hitting the potholes and struggling to get through.
One family who spoke with us said they walked through waist-deep water to get supplies. Just as they were about to walk back to their house, a Jeep came by and gave them a ride. It would have been a half-mile walk through the flood waters to get back to their house.
Another woman told us that she thought her family would be safe. According to state leaders, they didn't need to evacuate. Then when the eye of the hurricane hit, she and her husband woke up to more than 2 feet of water in their home. That couple left to stay with friends.
That night was another challenge to get back to the hotel because several roads were still flooded, and it was dark at that point. Luckily, I-75 reopened.
We were back in North Port on Sunday. Flooding continued to be an issue, but some roads were dry. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case all over the city. Some neighborhoods still had more than 4 feet of water on the road. One couple had to take a boat to get out of their house. They grabbed what they needed and stayed with family.
Another man came to the neighborhood to see if his house was still OK. He had not been back since he evacuated several days earlier, but he didn't want to walk through the water and risk injury or dropping his dog.
It was another day of seeing people wait in line for gas as well. In Osprey, more stations were opening but there were still lines.
In North Port, some stations started to open, and people were waiting to get what they needed. One man said he was only using his generator for two hours in the morning and two at night to conserve gas.
The emergency manager for the City of North Port said power was slowly coming back and about 25 percent of the 80,000-person town still didn't have power. He thanked the help from other areas to send down first responders to help with their recovery efforts.
On Monday, we saw some of the worst hit areas by Hurricane Ian. In Fort Myers Beach, it was devastating. As we drove into the area, there were trees missing bark that the storm had ripped off.
Driving into the area, the street was lined with debris, rubble and boats left stranded. Some of these boats were small, while others were yachts.
Boats were sitting on the roofs of cars and homes. There were mobile home parks that were flattened. Shrimp boats were thrown around and dumped all over the area. There were some that the water through on top of buildings and others just slammed into each other.
It's hard to put into words the destruction that was there. It was, for lack of a better phrase, humbling to see what happened. Some would argue that this was not the worst of the devastation, as the barrier islands were hammered by the hurricane.
We got in there around 9 a.m., and the silence was deafening. There was no noise, no people and no sounds of wildlife. There was a stench in the air as well. You could smell the water that had been sitting out and the fish that were washed ashore. It is something you won't forget.
One of the areas for guests to stay had nothing but the cement pads of buildings left. The owner says they were going to have to rebuild entirely. He was not even sure where his boats from the docks ended up.
One lady who was one of the only people to have limited damage told us how her home flooded and not one glass broke. Everything was still in one piece. She said she was fortunate it was not worse for her.
One of the shrimp boat workers spoke with us and told us about how he rode out the storm on his boat. He and his fellow workers were not injured. They don't know yet how they plan to recover.
Helicopters and recovery teams continued to pour in throughout the day. The support was coming to the Fort Myers Beach area and the barrier islands that were devastated by this storm.
The perseverance of the people there is something to remember. Many were picking up the pieces and figuring out what to do next. They didn't just throw up their hands and say, "Oh, woe is me."
I had only worked through a tropical storm and saw the minor damage from that when I worked in North Carolina. To see what Mother Nature can do with a hurricane is something I won't forget.
I hope the people of Florida are able to recover. It was heartbreaking to see the destruction and pain people are going through. In some cases, for the next few weeks or months. In other cases, it will be years before they recover if at all.
Something we saw everywhere was neighbors helping neighbors. We often hear the quote by Fred Rogers after disasters, "Look for the helpers." I'll tell you there were plenty of helpers on the Gulf Coast.