FORT MYERS, FLORIDA

Pics of Hurricane Ian and the Aftermath

The unsettling feel of dystopia

My grandson Ian awaits Hurricane Ian, photo by author

“Yes, it was as bad as you saw on the news.”

I am no photographer.

Obviously.

I took pictures from my hobbling, old iPhone 8+ as Hurricane Ian bore down on us, as well as in the echoing, eerie aftermath.

Fort Myers, Florida became the hurricane’s target with only a few hours notice. Our home.

Evacuation orders had keyed in on the northern Tampa Bay area before the storm took a last-minute, southeasterly turn into us.

Unpredictability happens.

The blue dot is our location and the last pic I could take before the radar cut out, and our view as the storm approached, photos by the author

My grandson and I live in a newly constructed concrete block apartment with hurricane-rated windows. Many were not as fortunate.

Houses were swallowed by the Gulf without care.

Too many lives were lost.

The unavoidable noise level troubled me the most. Unidentified projectiles startled us as they slammed against the building without warning.

The howling winds raged, roared, and hissed as lights blinked. Power finally popped with resounding confidence.

Defeated, the electricity quit.

Buckets of water randomly slammed sideways into our faces, protected behind windows, whenever we braved lifting the blinds.

Then the dark, quiet, interior became eerie and spooky.

Was this the hurricane’s eye?

I wildly texted everyone to send me a screenshot of the radar tracking the storm. I needed to know.

How fast was it moving, where was it, and when will it leave us?

Every message was ‘undeliverable.’

I can only describe the sinking feeling as sickening.

I made a mental note to purchase a battery-operated weather radio.

We were afforded a few minutes of reprieve from the onslaught. I’ve heard about the calm of the hurricane’s eye…