FORT MYERS — Residents were allowed to return to a coastal island that was decimated by Hurricane Ian on Saturday with a warning from the governor that the disaster isn’t over.
|
A member of the Florida Task Force 8 urban search and rescue team tags a condominium building that has been checked and found clear of people, in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., Oct. 5, 2022, one week after the passage of Hurricane Ian. |
With handmade signs
all over the area warning that looters will be shot by
homeowners, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said only
nine such theft cases had been reported.
Ian, a high-end Category 4 storm with maximum sustained
winds of 155 mph (249 kph) at landfall, was the
third-deadliest storm to hit the mainland United States this
century behind Hurricane Katrina, which left about 1,400
people dead, and Hurricane Sandy, which had a total death
count of 233 despite weakening to a tropical storm just
before it made U.S. landfall.
State officials have reported 94 storm-related deaths in
Florida so far and most were in Lee County, which includes
the Fort Myers area and nearby Gulf Coast islands including
Estero.