The extent of Hurricane Ian’s destruction became clearer Thursday as people across southwestern Florida — left without electricity, drinking water or inhabitable homes — began to assess the damage and gird for what Gov. Ron DeSantis said would be a yearslong recovery.
The scale of the wreckage was staggering, even to Florida residents who had survived and rebuilt after other powerful hurricanes. The storm pulverized roads, toppled trees, gutted downtown storefronts and set cars afloat, leaving a soggy scar of ruined homes and businesses from the coastal cities of Naples and Fort Myers to inland communities around Orlando.
Although state officials had not released a death toll by late in the day, DeSantis said Thursday night that "we absolutely expect” to learn of storm-related fatalities as rescuers work through a backlog of 911 calls and scour the most devastated neighborhoods. More than 500 people in Charlotte and Lee Counties, the hardest hit, had been rescued Thursday, the Florida Division of Emergency Management said; the small town of Fort Myers Beach, on a barrier island just off the coast, appeared decimated.
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