Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida near Cayo Costa on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2022, at 3:05 pm as a high-end Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, tying the record for the fifth-strongest hurricane on record to strike the United States. It was the first Category 4 hurricane to impact Southwest Florida since Charley in 2004.
And while Charley was a devastating storm, it primarily caused wind damage. Hurricane Ian certainly brought wind, but it was the first storm to bring the kind of storm surge that meteorologists have always warned was possible, but as longtime residents can attest had never seemed to materialize as each Hurricane Season passed.
Ian’s storm surge was 12 to 18 feet above ground level along the southwest Florida coast. Fort Myers Beach was washed over with 18 feet of seawater, and the entire region faced unprecedented flooding, at least in modern times.
This Thursday, June 12 WGCU’s Documentary Unit will premiere the new film “Rising: Surviving the Surge.” It features dramatic storm footage, powerful stories of resilience, and insights from scientists, first responders, and community leaders to provide a wake-up call to the reality of storm surge that we all now know is possible on a very personal level. And it offers a vital reminder to be prepared for when it matters most.
We talk about making Rising and some of the lessons we've learned from the storm that forever changed Southwest Florida.
Guests:
Janine Zeitlin, senior producer and writer for WGCU’s Documentary Unit
Tom James, videographer and editor of Rising and the doc unit
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