Ian, which made landfall in the United States as a hurricane twice, left many areas unrecognizable after it unleashed catastrophic flooding, powerful winds and a damaging storm surge in Florida and the Carolinas. As search and rescue efforts continue, the storm's death toll is rising, and communities are reeling from the devastation.
On Wednesday, Ian made landfall in southwestern Florida as a Category 4 hurricane. After racing across the peninsula and going out into the Atlantic Ocean, the storm made a second landfall — this time as a Category 1 hurricane — in South Carolina on Friday.
At least 28 people died due to the storm, and many more were left without a home. New photos show the extensive damage from what could be one of the strongest storms to have ever hit the U.S.:
Holly Ciaglia looks for her and her partner Evan Mackay's personal belongings on the ground at the Red Coconut RV Park in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Two days earlier, their mobile home was destroyed during Hurricane Ian.
Rebecca Blackwell / AP
A view of damage after of Hurricane Ian brought wind and heavy rain causing power outages and downing trees in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Oct. 1, 2022
Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
University of Central Florida students try to get into their apartment near the campus, which was totally flooded by rain from Hurricane Ian, on Sept. 30, 2022, in Orlando, Florida.
John Raoux / AP
A car drives through high water caused by Hurricane Ian, on Sept. 30, 2022, in Charleston, South Carolina.
Alex Brandon / AP
A Sanibel Island resident hands off her dog to rescuers from Project DYNAMO after she was rescued and transported to Fort Myers on Sept. 30, 2022.
Steve Helber / AP
An unidentified volunteer and Ken Diesel, right, help cook food for people in need in Fort Myers, Florida, on Sept. 30, 2022.
Getty Images
A motorist drives though high water in Charleston, South Carolina, as another turns around, on Sept. 30, 2022.
Alex Brandon / AP
University of Central Florida students evacuate after an apartment complex near the campus, which experienced heavy flooding, on Sept. 30, 2022.
John Raoux / AP
A view of high waters in North Port, Florida, on Sept. 30, 2022.
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Debris is seen on Sanibel Island, Florida, on Sept. 30, 2022.
Steve Helber / AP
In this aerial photo made in a flight provided by mediccorps.org, damage from Hurricane Ian is seen on Estero Island in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, on Sept. 30, 2022.
Gerald Herbert / AP
A damaged causeway to Florida's Sanibel Island is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022.
Wilfredo Lee / AP
Destruction left by Hurricane Ian in Pine Island and Matlacha, Florida. "The devastation is heartbreaking," the Lee County Sheriff's Office wrote on its Facebook page on Sept. 30, 2022.
Lee County Sheriff's Office
Destruction left by Hurricane Ian in Pine Island and Matlacha, Florida, on Sept. 30, 2022.
Lee County Sheriff's Office
A damaged restaurant on the island of Matlacha, Florida, with debris scattered across the outside on Sept. 30, 2022.
Lee County Sheriff's Office
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Your Privacy
Essential
Analytic & Performance
Functional
Marketing and Advertising
Social Media
Your Privacy
This page provides an overview of our use of cookies and similar technologies (from here we will refer to all those as “Cookies”) and how to manage them. For more information please visit our Privacy Policy.
When you visit our properties and use our products and services (“Services”), we use Cookies to analyse and measure our performance, customize content and serve personalized advertisements. We may place our own Cookies (First-party Cookies) or allow our service providers to place Cookies (Third-party Cookies) on your device and collect information such as your device ID, browser type and IP address so they can help us better understand your interaction with our Services. Advertisers and other advertising technology partners may also use their own third-party Cookies to collect information about your visits, deliver advertisements tailored to your interests, keep track of the number of views of a specific advertisement, analyses the effectiveness of advertisements, or provide auditing, research and reporting for advertisers. Such third parties may also match you to an existing interest category (e.g. automobiles) that they’ve developed and provide you with more relevant advertising over time and across different websites.
When you click on save settings below, your preferences will be saved. You can change your settings at any time by using the consent settings module. Note that saving settings is linked to the particular browser and/or device you use to visit our Services. Saving your settings within one particular Service will not affect your choices on other Paramount Services, or if you visit this Service with another device or from a different browser. In addition, it won’t affect any of your activities on third-party services. You have other choices to manage cookies and other tracking technologies on the internet such as using industry choice programs or managing your preferences within your browsers or devices. For more Information refer to our Privacy Policy.
Essential
Always Active
These cookies are essential for the proper functioning of our Services. Essential cookies cannot be switched off in our systems. You can set your device to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the Service will not work.
Analytic & Performance
Always Active
These Cookies allow us to collect information about how visitors use our properties. Some examples include counting visits and traffic sources, so we can measure and improve the performance of our services. If you do not allow these Cookies we will not know when users have visited our properties and will not be able to monitor performance.
Functional
Always Active
These Cookies enable the services to provide enhanced functionality and personalization. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our services. If you do not allow these Cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Marketing and Advertising
Always Active
These Cookies may be set by us or through our services by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant advertising on this and on other properties. If you do not allow these Cookies, you will still see ads, but you will experience less relevant advertising.
Social Media
Always Active
These Cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the services to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites, building up a profile of your interests to show you relevant content and advertisements on the relevant social networks. If you do not allow these Cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.