Hurricane Ian unleashed devastation on southwest Florida after a 6ft storm surge plowed through Fort Myers destroying houses as water rengulfed two-story properties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Horrifying footage showed wave after wave pummel the small city, swallowing buildings and cars as the monster tempest finally made landfall on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It sees the ‘unsurvivable’ torrent of water engulf palm trees in the tropical resort and rip some from their roots as it was forced forwards by 155mph winds – only the fifth storm in history to hit land at that speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile Naples and Sanibel Island were also rocked by the ‘historic’ hurricane, with houses overwhelmed by water, debris flung through windows and some even ripped from their hinges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Locals are reporting that hundreds of people in Naples are stranded on their rooftops, with the population of the town being made up mostly of elderly residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in Martin County, the sheriff’s office confirmed that this morning the body of 34-year-old construction worker Cody Dudek was found face down near Palm City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Across the state 1,103,460 households saw blackouts and Ron DeSantis said during a lunchtime update he expected the number to reach the millions as well as $45billion-worth of damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Florida Governor urged residents who decided to brave the storm to stay in their properties or emergency bunkers while the hurricane blasted the coastline and neared on Category 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But some foolhardy locals ignored his pleas and flocked to the sea with inflatables and surfboards, while others gathered on piers to take risky photographs of the tempest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It comes just days after Cuba was tormented by the vicious hurricane, which left millions of dollars of damage and at least two people dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the damage caused by Hurricane Ian in Florida today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-Vehicles were flipped on to their roofs after two tornadoes erupted across the state due to the hurricane;
-Hundreds of thousands of homes across the south west of Florida were devastated by surging floodwater;
-A man raced into the sea to rescue a cat from the raging water, with him hoisting it to safety on his shoulder;
-Trees were ripped from their roots in multiple locations and power lines were torn from sidewalks;
-Tom Brady and Gisele B\u00fcndchen are both hunkering down in Miami but staying in seperate homes;
-Patrol confirmed that 23 people were missing off the coast of Florida after a Cuban migrant boat sank;
-Emergency service personnel paused operations as the eye of the storm descended on the south west.<\/p>\n\n\n\n