More than 2.5 million people were urged to evacuate before Hurricane Ian hit Florida but many of those who live just outside evacuation zones decided to stay, sheltering in place, hoping to weather the storm.
The National Desk spoke with some of those residents who say they are ok but communication has been difficult with power and cell towers down.
"It's nastier and nastier. No power and having issues with cell service. Winds still high around 112 mph,” Fort Myers resident Morgan Roberts told The National Desk’s Kayla Gaskins via text just before 4 p.m. Wednesday evening as the eye was about to pass over.
"It has been a crazy, windy day in Fort Myers but winds today reached up to 115 mph,” Roberts added. “One of the lakes is flooding. We’ve got a lot of water.”
After hours of spotty service, Roberts was able to get back to The National Desk's Kayla Gaskins as the eye as Ian passed near her apartment.
“The wind legit sounds like chainsaws. So, you stand in the bedroom, you can hear the wind cutting through and it sounds like chainsaws are running,” she said.
Roberts, her boyfriend and their dog live outside the mandatory evacuation zones, so they stayed, sheltering in place. She documented much of her experience through the storm.
“Right now, a lot of things are flying around, so it has gotten worse by the hour,” Roberts said on video as Ian moved in just after 1 p.m.
“Palm trees are blowing, trees are breaking, a little bit of the siding has come off of the apartment complex next door rot ours and we’re seeing bits and pieces of people’s porches and flowers flying everywhere,” she said in a video around 2 p.m. “We do have some rain coming through the sliding doors.”
Around 2:30 p.m., the power went out.
“Now we’re just using a bunch of flashlights,” Roberts said.
Nia Eddie evacuated her home to head to higher ground. She's sheltering at a hotel in Fort Myers.
“I’m lucky I still have power but I’m just riding it out here and trying to stay as safe as I can,” Eddie said.
Her family lives in the area and she says making sure everyone safe has been a challenge.
“We all have a GroupMe so we have been checking in on each other there. I know some of my other family members have lost power they’re trying to conserve their cell phone battery so they’re checking in at least once an hour. That's all we ask of them,” Eddie said.