‘Our community is wiped out’: low-income Americans likely to be hit hardest by Hurricane Ian - The Guardian US

After the storm knocked out power and destroyed property, people scramble for shelter, funds and news of the missing.

For Connie Irvin, 82, and her partner, Cheryl Lange, the cost of Hurricane Ian’s devastating tear across Florida was clear.

The pair lost their mobile home on Sanibel Island off the state’s west coast and are now homeless, staying in a motel inland about 35 miles away near Naples, Florida, that currently has no electricity.

There are a lot of people on Sanibel and down in Fort Myers that have lost their lives, and where I’m staying there are a lot of homeless people now,” Irvin added.

For Irvin and Lange that recovery looks hard – as it is for many low-income Floridians, who are often hit hardest by the terrible losses that natural disasters can wreak.

Irvin still does carpentry work for extra money, although she is not sure if her tools made it through the hurricane.

But the only bridge to Sanibel Island was destroyed in the hurricane, making rescues difficult and the barrier island accessible only by boat or helicopter.

Dwayne Parks of Lakeland, Florida, and his girlfriend experienced significant damage from the hurricane to their home, with flooding through the house of about a foot of water and damage to their roof.

She lost contact with him as his house was flooding and he lost power and cellphone service.