Ian will be remembered for being the costliest disaster in all of 2022 and for being the deadliest storm to strike Florida in more than 80 years.
The storm system began as a tropical wave off Africa but really didn’t get its act together until the central Caribbean, where it became a tropical storm on September 24.
Ian rapidly strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane before striking Cuba, knocking out power to millions and causing five deaths.
The hurricane exited the island nation into the Gulf of Mexico and rapidly strengthened into a Category 4 storm with winds sustained around 155 mph and a pressure that reached 936 millibars.
The hurricane’s first U.S. landfall occurred on Cayo Costa Island, Florida, very near where Hurricane Charley made landfall almost 20 years ago.
The track of Hurricane Ian.
(FOX Weather)
The hurricane produced a devastating storm surge for communities in the Fort Myers area, and impacts from wind, rain and tornadoes were reported in a large part of the Florida Peninsula.
After impacting the Sunshine State, the storm system continued north and eastward, bringing damaging wind gusts to the Carolinas, mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
After the damage, estimates put the impact at more $100 billion and more than 150 deaths were attributed to the storm.
