Mike Romeo, 53, hails a ride by sticking out his thumb in Pine Island on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in St. James City, Florida. Hurricane Ian made landfall on the coast of Southwest Florida as a ...

Images of the aftermath show a glimpse of the destruction caused by the powerful Category 4 hurricane: homes washed out, boats yanked from their moorings, and decimated neighborhoods.

Members of mediccorps.org help evacuate Bria Acerbo in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Pine Island, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert “We’ve lost so much at this point.” ...

Before Hurricane Ian, Matlacha was a quaint fishing community that served as the entryway to Pine Island. Hurricane Ian flattened it.

PHOTOS: Hurricane Ian devastates Pine Island, Florida AP Photo The bridge leading from Fort Myers to Pine Island, Fla., is heavily damaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022.

In September 2022, Hurricane Ian's historic surge and winds decimated swaths of Southwest Florida, especially coastal Lee County communities of Pine Island, Matlacha, St. James City, Sanibel ...

Residents of Florida’s Gulf Coast barrier islands return to assess the damage from Hurricane Ian on Oct. 6 on Sanibel Island. AP Photo/Stephen Smith 16 of 23 ...

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Agusto "Kiko" and Julia "Gordie" Villalon returned to Pine Island after fleeing Hurricane Ian, leaving just as the slow-moving storm's winds and rain began to batter the island.

PINE ISLAND, Fla. — Pine Island, a barrier island off of Florida's southwest coast, only had one link to the mainland — a bridge that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ian and is now impassible.

Diana Bisson looks out from her kitchen in her home in the Flamingo Bay neigborhood in Pine Island Island, Fla., on Oct. 3, 2022, after Hurricane Ian ravaged the area. Updated October 1, 2022 at ...