Reflections on Ian: How Florida’s Coasts Were Overwhelmed and How Geography Could Help Rewrite the Future
- Bryan Hummel
- Jul 17
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 22
Living Through a Historic Storm
In late September 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa in southwest Florida as a powerful Category 4 storm with winds nearing Category 5 strength. The storm packed a wallop. It stands as the costliest hurricane in Florida history and the third-costliest in U.S. memory, inflicting around $112 billion in damage and claiming approximately 160 lives. The toll included both direct and indirect deaths.
Cities like Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Sanibel Island, and Naples were battered by storm surge, intense wind, and torrential rain. Coastal bridges collapsed, neighborhoods disappeared, and millions were left without power in the wake of one of the deadliest storms in recent memory.
Geography as Both a Vulnerability and a Solution
Florida’s southwest coast is built on reclaimed marshes, canals, and fragile barrier islands. These areas have drawn development over the years, sometimes at the expense of the natural features that once buffered storm impacts. Much of the damage stemmed from this fact.
The landscape itself could offer a different path. Imagine:
Salt-tinged wetlands and marshes along the coast: These natural sponges once slowed storm surge. If preserved or restored, they could soak up surge before it strips away homes and roads.
Canals and drainage systems: Rather than channeling water directly to the sea, more permeable swales or bio-swale corridors could allow water to sink into surrounding soils, slowing its entry into urban zones.
Coastal islands and barrier strips like Sanibel: If elevated and reinforced with natural dunes or submerged reef-like formations, these landforms could help spread and dissipate water energy before it crashes ashore.
These geographic interventions are not abstractions. They reflect how landscapes can absorb and attenuate floods when they are allowed to work with natural forces rather than against them.
A Different Recovery Story in the Making
In the aftermath, communities like Sanibel Island began rebuilding and planning differently. Infrastructure enhancements now include raising causeways, elevating roads, and reinforcing emergency access. Those projects point to one truth: resilience emerges when we design with landscape, not just against it (Southern Living).
That shift in thinking matters. When landscapes work by slowing, spreading, sinking, soaking, and storing water, they stop being passive victims and start becoming active partners in disaster resilience.
Hurricane Ian did not hit Florida alone, it hit Florida with its geography against it. But recovery and future safety will come when geography becomes part of the solution.
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