Thursday marks one year since Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida. On this day last year, you may have been taking shelter at home, or maybe you evacuated, as that powerful storm swept across our state.

Thursday marks one year since Hurricane Ian, the fifth-strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in the U.S., slammed into Florida’s southwest coast.

Rather than dictating, Gov. Ron DeSantis began collaborating, acknowledging that the damage from the storm last year would be more than government alone could repair.

Hurricane Ian roared ashore a year ago in Southwest Florida with winds gusting up to 140 mph and storm surge that rose as high as 15 feet. The Lee County barrier island communities of Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel were devastated. “Most people lost everything that they've accumulated their entire lives in a matter of hours,” Allers said.

As Southwest Florida approaches the first anniversary of Hurricane Ian, Fort Myers Beach continues to recover from the devastating storm.