(FORT MYERS, Fla.)- Hurricane Ian’s devastating impact will be felt for weeks and months to come, especially in Fort Myers where Florida Rural Legal Services (FRLS), Inc.'s response team is in place at FEMA's disaster recovery center - just steps from where much of the storm’s damage was sustained.
The pop-up center, equiped with national, state, and local government agencies, served a steady flow of foot traffic of Hurricane Ian survivors.
FRLS' Marketing and Communications Director Denise Sawyer captured the devastation and the marathon to recovery with her camera. She snapped photos and recorded videos that best tell a story of a "storm after a storm."
"Exhaustion can heard in the quiver of their voices and the dire need of help can be seen in their quick steps as Hurricane Ian survivors filed into the disaster recovery center in Fort Myers," described Sawyer. "In the thick of it was Daniel Cruz, FRLS' director of acting advocacy. I watched as he greeted families who were in desperate need of legal aid."
Hurricane Ian is “likely to rank among the worst in the nation’s history,” President Joe Biden said. “It’s going to take months, years to rebuild.”
When FRLS went out to document the damage, weeks after Hurricane Ian, trees were down, power was out in some areas, and bricks secured bright blue tarps on visibly damaged roofs.
“Since Hurricane Ian made landfall, Florida Rural LegalServices has made a clear commitment to inform our most vulnerable communities of resources afforded to them in the wake of the deadly hurricane,” said Denise Sawyer, communications director of FRLS. “FRLS has created a webpage that is designed as a one-stop shop to equip those impacted with the tools they need to rebuild, recover and refuel.”
The Hurricane Ian Disaster Relief Resource Page, https://www.frls.org/hurricane-ian-relief, is an easily accessible webpage that helps residents learn about disaster relief and assistance possibly available to them.
