Hurricane Ian ripped through southwestern Florida, causing mass flooding, destroying thousands of homes and leaving an estimated two million people without electricity.
The storm is one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the United States, with sustained winds at nearly 150 miles per hour, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Before and after images of the affected areas demonstrate the extent of the destruction.
Storm ‘Doing a Number’ in Florida – Hurricane Ian real-time updates
1. Foreign Island
These screenshots are from videos shot facing northwest on the main street of Estero Island, a tourist area just south of the city of Fort Myers.
A huge storm surge caused mass flooding in southwestern Florida, including in this beach town on Estero Island. Pic: loniarchitects via Instagram
The image on the left was shared on Instagram just as the storm began to hit. In it, there is a flood of the road but the swimming pool and the parking lot remain intact.
But in the shot on the right, posted two hours later, the pool and parking lot are completely submerged. Cars also seem to float in the deluge.
In the left image the parking lot is clear but it is completely submerged in the shared image just two hours later. Pic: loniarchitects via Instagram
A second comparison shows more clearly the extent of the flooding in the nearby parking lot.
2. Sanibel Island
This time-lapse footage shows a similar scene on Sanibel Island, a few miles to the west.
He was caught early yesterday afternoon by a traffic camera located on the island’s Periwinkle Way. Within 30 minutes, the road was engulfed by rising waters, despite being nearly a mile inland.
3. Naples pier
The coastal city of Naples, which is about 40 miles to the south, was also severely affected.
This webcam captured the Naples Pier beach scene after the hurricane.
Run the marker over the image below to see what the beach was like yesterday compared to three days ago.
4. Command of the Fire Brigade and the Rescue of Naples
The left image, taken from a video shared by the Naples Fire Brigade, shows the situation in the city itself.
Heavy flooding can be observed outside this fire brigade building in the city of Naples. Photo: Fire Brigade of Naples
The bushes just outside the building are almost entirely submerged by several meters of water.
In another screenshot, we can see that the red water pipes located to the left of the vehicle entrance are also underwater.
The area outside the fire department building is under several meters of water. Photo: Fire Brigade of Naples
5. Park Shore Drive, Naples
Another video captured by the Naples firefighters shows the rescue of a driver trapped inside his car due to the increasing flood.
The whole street is completely flooded, trapping a driver inside their car. Photo: Fire Brigade of Naples
The image on the right, taken from Google Maps images acquired in June, shows the extent of the storm surge.
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