'Nothing's left': Hurricane Ian leaves emotional toll behind
Survivors of Hurricane Ian face a long emotional road to recover from one of the most damaging storms to hit the U.S. mainland
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — With her home gone and all her belongings trashed by Hurricane Ian, Alice Pujols wept as she picked through soggy clothes, toys and overturned furniture piled head-high outside a stranger’s house, looking to salvage something — anything — for her four children and herself.
“I’m trying to make it to the next day,” she said. “That’s all I can do. It’s really depressing. It really is.”
For those who lost everything to a natural disaster and even those spared, the anguish can be crushing to return home to find so much gone. Grief can run the gamut from frequent tears to utter despair. Two men in their 70s even took their own lives after viewing their losses, said the medical examiner in Lee County, where Ian first made landfall in southwestern Florida.
The emotional toll in the days, weeks and months after a hurricane, flood or wildfire can be crippling. More pressing needs for food, shelter and clothing often take priority to seeking counseling, which is in short supply even in good times.
