The official Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November, but occasionally storms form outside those months.

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On Sept 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa, Florida, as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph.

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• Ian pushed a storm surge of 15 feet above ground level into southwest Florida, resulting in record inundation of coastal locations, especially Sanibel Island and Fort Myers 

• Hurricane-force winds were observed as far inland as Orlando, leaving more than 2.7 million customers without power and widespread structural damage to homes, vehicles, and businesses.

• 166 people died in Florida, more than 50% of those deaths were people over the age of 60. Based on death records, deaths were due to flooding, winds and other dangerous conditions during the storm; drownings; delayed medical care; falls; oxygen machines’ failing because of power outages; infections from cuts related to moving debris, car crashes and accidents. 

• More than half of deaths in Florida’s Charlotte, Lee and Sarasota counties occured in locations that were at risk for substantial flooding in a Category 4 hurricane. 

• Tornadoes are another hazard of concern and can occur at any time of the year in Florida Many of Florida's tornadoes occur in the spring and summer, often along strong sea breeze boundary collisions and from tropical cyclones and hurricanes. The duration of a tornado is brief, sometimes just seconds resulting in major devastation to communities and death.

• Damage from Hurricane Ian is estimated at $115 billion, including insured and uninsured losses, making it the third costliest cyclone to strike the United States, after Katrina and Harvey, according to NOAA.                                Data -Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 2024