“I’m getting panic attacks. I’m crying a lot. I’m angry. I’m everything. The not knowing is killing me,” said a woman whose father has not been heard from since the storm.
The wrecking of the Hideaway Village motel, pieced together through interviews with survivors, reveals how the storm’s death count could have easily been much higher than 135 people, according to an NBC News tally.
Residents on Sanibel Island, a small coastal community outside Fort Myers, suffered a direct hit. A lack of insurance could prove life-altering for them and many other Floridians.
Hurricane Ian devastated parts of southwest and central Florida that have experienced rapid Latino growth — including Puerto Ricans who had lost everything to Hurricane Maria five years ago.