‘Absolute devastation’: Hurricane Ian decimates Fort Myers Beach

They believed the second floor would be safe.

Hurricane Ian was more brutal than some people thought.

Kevin Behen hid in a corner room in a stout building by the foot of the bridge after leaving his studio apartment. The second floor was licked by the surge. He ran upstairs and banged on the door to get into the house.

It sounded like a tornado was coming.

The water rose quickly.

Another part of Florida was destroyed by a storm.

Side streets were blocked by blown-out homes. The barrier island was covered in sand as if it had been thrown back in time.

Beer bottles and kegs spilled out from shattered bars and the beach souvenir shack was a husk. Ian blew out all the windows and tiles in the shop. There were soaked neon swimsuits, hats and sunset-colored T-shirts around the building.

There was a strong smell of gas in the air.

Behen received a call from his father.

He said that the island was similar to an atom bomb.

Behen stumbled upon a man who said he rode his roof through the flood to shelter, slept on a porch, and feared his roommate and two other people were dead. He had no shoes and was covered in blood.

There was a lot of people here. There were some that were not present.

A helicopter from the Coast Guard dropped a stretcher into the wreck and hauled a person up after it thwacked over the beach.

The fire marshal said they expect to find bodies in the rubble. They know people didn't follow the orders. Campbell and a colleague went through town to look at the damage.

She said it was an absolute disaster. There isn't much left.

Max Lopez-Figueroa and his wife Zhenia were going to stay in their second floor condo during the storm. The surge kept rising until it reached their deck.

They went upstairs to another unit with their two kids. The entire side of the building fell apart.

Max said there was no preparation for this. Aziel and Yuriel slept through the storm.

They can't figure out what hit their storm shutters. The inside of their unit was mostly clean. The Mazda SUV was flooded.

There were grounded boats around their home. There was a pleasure cruiser on top of a SUV.

The Lopez-Figueroas are moving out of Florida.

Zhenia said it wasn't because we're running from it. We don't have anything You begin over.

Cheryl and Jay Kimble had left their first floor home to stay with an upstairs neighbor on the other side of the street. Four cats were taken with them.

Ian blew out the walls of the building's lower level. Outside, there was dark water.

They were worried they would have to swim for their lives. Kimble tied a hammer to a rope and tried to hook a kayak for their escape from the house. A trailer floats by. The wind made a loud noise.

He saw that the kayak was tied to a tree. It's out of reach.

They didn't want their cats to go to a shelter. They took sleeping pills in the middle of the storm.

The sea was just below her second floor apartment. There was rain inside her windows. There was a muddy brown tint to the surge.

The convenience store was destroyed when the ice cream cooler flew past her window.

She figured she wouldn't be able to leave Florida completely before the storm arrived because Ian's forecast seemed to swallow a lot of the state. She was offered a place to stay in Cape Coral, but it was just a single story.

There is a souvenir shop on the first floor of the island resort.

She felt lucky to have only lost her bike and car as she walked down the street. Her voice became emotional.

She couldn't believe that Mother Nature would do something like this. ''My God.''

Tampa Bay Times Hurricane coverage

There are bridges in the aftermath of Ian.

When the storm has passed, what should we do next? There are safety tips for coming home.

How to get help with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

Tropical Storm Ian was supposed to slam into the area. Why did it happen?

If your home is damaged in a storm, call your insurance company.

Will schools reopen quickly after the storm? It is dependent on the situation.

During a storm, protect your mental health with self- care.

It's storm season and you need to stay informed at tampa bay.com/hurricane.