Many beach cottages that lined the shores of Sanibel Island were wiped away by Hurricane Ian’s storm surge, new aerial imagery from NOAA shows. Most homes appear to have sustained some form of roof damage, in addition to certain storm surge and flooding damage.
The only thing that is left of Gulf Breeze Cottages is the parking lot. All buildings on the property have been destroyed, and their debris litters the area nearby.
Shalimar Cottages and Motel is gone, too. Its 14 cottages and entire motel building were wiped away by the storm. At least four cottages — or what remains of them — are parked in a street.
Island Inn’s main building, which housed its Traditions on the Beach restaurant, has been destroyed. What remains of the building’s roof is seen sitting in the parking lot. Sand covers most of the property.
Mitchell’s SandCastles has also been completely destroyed. No buildings remain and the property is covered in sand.
Only one building remains of the Waterside Inn on the Beach. The only thing remaining of the eight buildings on the property, which encircle the swimming pool, is debris.
Only three buildings remain of Sanibel’s Beachview Cottages. The storm surge was so powerful, it pushed nearly all of the cottages off their foundation. Only one is seen in the aerial image and is parked where the surge left it — on top of the swimming pool.
Only a portion of two buildings remain of the Blue Dolphin Hotel. The homes surrounding the hotel appear to have only sustained some roof damage. The only evidence of some hotel buildings are the remaining walls and foundation.
The roofs of four buildings that comprise Ocean’s Reach have sustained significant damage. It’s unclear how how things fared inside the buildings, but a significant debris field is seen behind the buildings. A covered parking structure behind the buildings has been destroyed as well.
Even though storm surge is no longer covering Sanibel, a number of homes on the Sanibel Island Golf Club remain underwater.
A US Coast Guard helicopter can be seen resting on the sand near the Island Beach Club. It’s unclear whether it’s conducting a rescue when the aerial image was taken.
Large scars in the sands can be seen near the Casa Ybel Beach Resort — the storm surge eroded much of the beach and dunes.
Source: www.cnn.com