HURRICANE IAN
Fort Myers, Florida | 2022
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I arrived in Florida hours before airports closed as Hurricane Ian barreled toward the state. After covering preparation and evacuation efforts, I rode out the storm, reporting on conditions and from local shelters, and remaining for days to cover the aftermath.
At the Sunseeker’s mobile home park in North Fort Myers, Florida, residents had receives almost no outside help a day after a direct hit from the devastating Hurricane Ian.
But in the close-knit community, neighbors banded together to help each other.
Still reeling from the trauma of the storm, the first day was an ordeal as residents waded through water to assess the damage. But it is the long-term cost of repairs in the weeks and months to come that worries them most.
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Filmed and edited in the same day by Alexandra Ostasiewicz on assignment for the BBC News.
Wrote and recorded a radio segment on the experience of covering the storm that aired on the BBC’s From Our Own Correspondent radio program.
Hurricane Ian: From our own correspondent
The storm surge triggered by Hurricane Ian engulfed several cities on Florida’s Coast. Buildings were torn apart and some 600, 000 homes and businesses were left without power. Alexandra Ostasiewicz went to a trailer park community in Fort Myers where residents are now trying to rebuild their lives and homes.
+ Click to hear the full story on the program site.
Wrote and contributed reporting to text stories which reached over 1 million views with writers Bernd Debusmann Jr. and with Holly Honderich.
Hurricane Ian survivors: They stayed for the storm - what happens now?
For Renee Smith and her paralysed, cancer-stricken husband Christopher, evacuation was not an option when Hurricane Ian came violently bearing down on their Florida home.
+ Click to read the full story on the BBC News site.
Wrote and photographed for the BBC News live page, submitting multiple posts throughout the day. Selection posted below.
+ Click to read see the full live page on the BBC News site.
“We've never been hit like this”
Posted at 12:39 | 30 Sep 2022
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It’s a brilliantly sunny day on Fort Myers Beach.
Amid the heat and salty air, a massive clean up is under way.
This stretch of coast was one of the hardest hit by Hurricane Ian and you can see the signs everywhere you look. Debris and a destroyed vehicle line the street to the waterfront.
At Coconut Jacks restaurant, a team of employees is hard at work trying to salvage what they can.
“We’ve never been hit like this,” the general manager told me.
He estimates that as much as 8ft (2.4m) of water flooded into the restaurant from the storm surge.
They hope the structure can be saved, but are confident that everything inside will need to be replaced.
”The town is destroyed”
Posted at 16:29 | 29 Sep 2022
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In Port Charlotte, a coastal community 96 miles (154km) south of Tampa, Tom, 48, and his mother Kathy, 66, who uses a wheelchair, survived Hurricane Ian for nearly 12 hours after the roof blew off part of their home.
“We were in the bathroom and could feel the wall shaking,” Tom told me.
They say the front part of the roof was blown off the building at around 4:30pm on Wednesday and that they rode out the storm through the night for close to 12 hours.
I met them on road. The pair had been planning a move to Colorado at the end of the month, but decided to leave this morning after a traumatic and devastating night.
For Kathy, who has lived in Florida for the past 18 years, the prospect of leaving the state is heart-breaking - but she feels there is little left to keep her here.
“The town is destroyed,” she told me. As is her home of the past six years.
Residents ride out the storm
Posted at 12:59 | 28 Sep 2022
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People living in evacuation zones and high-risk areas are riding out the storm on higher ground at Gibbs High School. The shelter has housed 541 people since opening on Tuesday - way more than they were anticipating.
The shelter is providing meals and a safe place to stay for locals including the unhoused and those with special needs.
On Wednesday morning, a father and son - Tommy Sr. and Tommy Jr. - sat outside the shelter watching as rain battered the parking lot in front of the high school.
"I'm pretty certain it's gonna be damaged.” Tommy Sr. said, pondering the fate of the family’s home. “I’m worried about after. If it gets hammered, I don't know where we're gonna go then."
Safe shelter for man’s best friends
Posted at 12:59 | 28 Sep 2022
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Pets are often a critical consideration for residents deciding whether or not to evacuate.
Employees from Pinellas County animal services have been at the pet-friendly shelter in St. Petersburg full-time since Tuesday, staying overnight to help register animals and make sure they are taken care of.
They currently have 31 dogs and 22 cats. “It’s more than it sounds,” Caitlyn Harrison said.
The storm can be difficult for the animals who must be kept in crates and are not allowed outside during the storm.
“It can be hard for the dogs for sure,” Harrison said. But pet owners are allowed to visit with their animals any time of day. For many, knowing their animals are safe is the priority as Ian continues to threaten the area.
Putting aside political differences in the face of the storm
Posted at 12:31 | 28 Sep 2022
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It was a tough decision for Jean Fargo to leave her home.
“We were reluctant at first,” she said.
After learning more about the dangers of storm surge, the St. Petersburg resident decided to evacuate to the shelter at a local high school. “We've been really pleasantly surprised by shelter conditions," she said.
Not only is the food good, but she is also feeling a sense of community and camaraderie among those in the shelter.
“We’ve made friends with the people next to us. They have different political stripes, but we all agree that this disaster doesn’t involve politics,” she said.
In a state that has been polarised along political fault lines in recent months, banding together in the face of a natural disaster is a shift in narrative for many.
Anxiety builds as Tampa Bay braces for Ian
Posted at 11:46 | 28 Sep 2022
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In the Tampa Bay area, locals are no strangers to hurricane warnings, but even the most seasoned are taking this storm seriously.
The energy in the city changed overnight as residents woke to pounding rain and choppy water in the normally tranquil bay.
As the day wears on and the wind gusts intensify, the anxiety is increasing.
Roads are empty of vehicles, but starting to fill up with water and debris blown from palm trees.
Shops are all shuttered except for some petrol stations, but even those are all out of fuel.
With the window to evacuate closing, everyone is hunkering down to wait out the storm and hope for the best.
Florida residents face ‘nerve-wracking’ storm
As the sky darkened and water turned rough, Florida residents at the St. Petersburg public marina scramble to brace for the storm, describing the wait as "nerve-racking."
The marina is one of many areas in the city under a mandatory evacuation order. But not everyone is leaving.
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