Southwest Florida

Crews from 30 states have converged on Southwest Florida to restore power after Hurricane Ian devastated the area. The work is precise and dangerous.

Several school systems across Southwest Florida can’t say for sure when they’ll reopen.

A notice issued from the city of Sanibel quoted a memo from the office of Gov. DeSantis: "It is anticipated to have the Sanibel Causeway accessible by the end of October. Once immediate recovery efforts have subsided, permanent long-term repairs will be made to the causeway."

Three days after Hurricane Ian ripped through the communities on Pine Island, the coast guard organized a water-borne operation to help evacuate residents because the bridge that used to connect the island to the mainland is buckled and broken. Many residents want to stay.

Sharon Faircloth has a few businesses on Fort Myers Beach and multiple employees out of their jobs, so she plans to pivot her mission, working to help officials with hurricane recovery efforts.

In historically African American Dunbar, some think that they are being ignored by authorities who are more concerned about helping affluent seaside communities.

Crystal Edge has been trying to recover the mast from her boat’s wreckage. She intends to repurpose it as a flagpole to honor her mother.

A few days after the Category 4 storm made landfall in Southwest Florida, people were still being rescued and transported to shelters. Here are their stories.

As of Saturday, more than 1,000 people had been rescued from flooded areas along Florida's southwestern coast alone.

As evacuation efforts begin on Sanibel and Captiva Island, residents are being transported by boat to areas like the Port Sanibel Marina. Hurricane Ian evacuees share their experiences immediately after stepping onto the mainland.

Building on the islands and holding them in place with beach replenishment programs just makes them more vulnerable to destruction because they can no longer move, according to experts.

It is currently unknown how many people remain stranded on the islands in the wake of the near-Category 5 Hurricane Ian.