Intense video shows devastating impact of Hurricane Ian on Fort Myers

The idyllic coastal town of Fort Myers, Florida now looks like it has fallen into the ocean as floodwaters from Hurricane Ian engulfed the city Wednesday.

The water is rising so quickly footage from the same camera just an hour apart shows it becoming submerged.

In the first video, the camera positioned six feet above the ground at Lani Kai Resort resort shows fast-moving water flooding the street with garbage floating away.

An hour later, the camera was inundated with water and at times fully submerged. 

The footage shows extremely rough waves flooding what was once a street. It’s unclear how long the camera will continue to hold on. Other videos posted on social media showed houses flooded, downed power cables sparking fireballs and evenb sharks swimming in the flood waters.

Over one million people are also without power in the state, many in Lee County, which includes Fort Myers and neighboring Cape Coral, which has also been devasated by the Hurricane.

Ian made landfall Wednesday afternoon as a Category 4 storm with 155 miles per hour winds. 

Fort Myers, which is under an unenforceable mandatory evacuation, is directly in its path. From there, the storm is set to travel northeast, likely hitting Tampa, Orlando and even Jacksonville, on the east coast.

The projected path of Hurricane Ian over the weekend.

Footage Wednesday showed Fort Myers, which is home to more than 85,000 people, completely surrounded by water, as cars float away and homes look like they were plopped down in a lake.

Here’s everything to know about Hurricane Ian:

A little further south, the upmarket town of Naples is also practically underwater as meteorologists predicted some areas might see storm surges of more than 15 feet of water batter the town. 

Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said Wednesday there are more than 30,000 linemen “staged and ready” to help restore power when it is safe to do so.