Florida Sen. Marco Rubio says Fort Myers Beach ‘no longer EXISTS’ after Hurricane Ian

Senator Marco Rubio claimed on Sunday that Fort Myers Beach suffered irreparable damage from Hurricane Ian after the “superstorm” ripped its beloved pier from its hinges, saying the historic city “no longer exists.”

The Florida official’s grim statement came as officials continued to assess the damage done by the hurricane, which made landfall in southwest Florida last week before sweeping across the middle and upper regions of the state.

Fort Myers Beach, a Gulf Coast town hardest hit by the storm, was hit especially hard by Ian, with homes razed and ships swept to land in feet of flooded floodwater, leaving dozens of residents stranded awaiting rescue – or worse.

The magnitude of the destruction has since rendered the city’s beloved couple unrecognizable — and at least 81 confirmed dead, many from small-town Florida.

Rubio, 51, told ABC’s This Week on Sunday morning about the extent of this destruction, saying there is no “comparison” between the deadly hurricane and previous storms.

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“I don’t think it has a comparison, not in Florida,” Rubio, R-Fla., told co-anchor Jonathan Karl about the recent storm compared to its predecessors.

The former presidential candidate would also add that despite close talks with Governor Ron DeSantis and federal officials about recovery efforts, Fort Myers’ beloved beach will likely never be the same.

“Fort Myers Beach no longer exists,” said Rubio, who has been a senator from the Sunshine State since 2011.

“It needs to be rebuilt,” he continued in reference to what he believed irreparable damage had been done to the once picturesque city.

“It’s going to be something different. It was a piece of old Florida you can’t recapture.’

In the remote interview, the senator was joined by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator Deanne Criswell, who plays a critical role in the government’s cleanup and rescue efforts.

Criswell added of the lasting effects of the then Category 4 storm: ‘There is a lot of destruction. Significant damage at the point of impact on Florida’s west coast.”

Search and rescue operations in Fort Myers — as well as other affected cities such as Naples, Naples and Orlando — are still underway, Rubio noted in the interview, before highlighting that federal officials have been working closely with Gov. DeSantis because of the gravity of the situation.

Those efforts, Rubio said on Sunday, have been successful so far — but both the senator and FEMA’s chief official said a huge amount of work still needs to be done before the city even begins to look like its former self.

“FEMA has — they’ve all been great,” Rubio said of the recovery campaign, which he admitted will be a long one. “The federal response from day one has been very positive,” the politician added. “And we’re grateful for that.”

Criswell, a former New York City chief of emergency management and the first woman to lead FEMA after taking the title last year, reiterated that both they were in direct contact with DeSantis in Rubio as the cleanup continues.

“I spent all day Friday with Governor DeSantis and really wanted to hear what his concerns were and what resources he might need to help support this,” Criswell told Karl.

“I promised him that we would continue to commit resources to meet the needs, not only for this response and stabilization, but also for the recovery efforts.”

When asked whether the agency had been unaware of storm forecasting models or whether local officials should have called for evacuations sooner, Criswell claimed state officials were not responsible for what will likely be billions of dollars in damage, and said the storm was “unpredictable in the days leading up to landfall.”

The storm would then explode in the span of a day to become the deadliest hurricane in state history in 60 years.

“This is going to be a long road to recovery,” Criswell acknowledged, as Rubio shook his head in agreement.

She added that officials are currently “taking into account everyone who was in the storm’s path and going through every house to make sure we don’t leave anyone behind.”

The hurricane made landfall near Cayo Costa, a barrier island just west of the densely populated city, with water draining from Tampa Bay as it approached.

More than 2.6 million Florida homes and businesses were left without electricity amid six feet of flooding and pelting, 255 mph winds, with most homes and businesses in 12 counties without power, and many were ripped from their foundations.

Streets were turned into rivers, with the storm surge flooding homes, hospitals, and schools, wiping out the city’s beach.

The impact of Ian, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane but dissipated after passing over the central part of the state and then across the Atlantic Ocean, has prompted officials to scramble to avoid infrastructure damage and deaths. to grab – with the state is already carrying out more than confirmed rescues of civilians stranded in still-flooded areas.

The chaos has also led to looting, officials in Lee County revealed, resulting in the activation of a nationwide curfew that will affect more than 413,000 civilians.

The reported incidents brutally defied warnings from law enforcement officers throughout the province that “looting and violence” in the aftermath “would not be tolerated” as the flooding subsided Thursday.

Officials continue to assess the damage and loss of life caused by the now long-gone natural disaster.

Residents have been asked to conserve water and be wary of any neighbors – especially older residents who may be in need.

Meanwhile, the president, along with the First Lady, will travel to Puerto Rico this week to review the damage Hurricane Fiona caused two weeks ago, as well as Ian, who made his first landfall in the country before going from a tropical storm to a storm. hurricane hitting the US Wednesday.

They will then go to Florida to assess the recovery efforts there.