"It looked like something out of Syria or out of Iraq. It was these almost shelled out looking buildings in some places and then like completely flattened buildings," CNN's John Sutter says. More than 700 Floridians have been rescued from floodwaters; 2.4 million residents remain without power. Hurricane Ian, which had been downgraded to a tropical storm, re-intensified and became a hurricane once again.
As the sun came up over Florida yesterday, a fuller picture began to emerge of the destruction that Hurricane Ian had inflicted on the state and its residents.
The Category 4 storm washed away roads, bridges, cars, boats and homes. The damage is so extensive that, according to the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, it may take years to rebuild.
Guests: Patricia Mazzei, the Miami bureau chief for The New York Times; Richard Fausset, a Times correspondent based in Atlanta; Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, a national news reporter for The Times; and Hilary Swift, a photojournalist.
Background reading:
- Data from NASA reveals how warm ocean waters in the Gulf of Mexico provided the fuel that turned Hurricane Ian into such a potent force.
- The scale of the wreckage was staggering, even to Florida residents who had survived and rebuilt after other powerful hurricanes.
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.