shock and disbelief that such a massive storm came through here, you know? we were warned. we knew it was going to be big. you know, we made that choice to stay. my island of paradise is gone as i knew it. reporter: more than 400,000 people are still without power and many on these barrier islands may not have it for up to a month. still, they re holding out hope. we re strong people. we ll get through it. we ll rebuild and come back. reporter: we talked about the boats in our story. you ll see the boats behind me that have washed up here. this is a fishing community where the shrimpers here will be quick to tell you we have provided food for this country for decades and now they feel left behind saying they would just love to be able to hear from a government official providing help or just wash their hands or get a warm bath. they feel like they ve been left behind. layla santiago, cnn, fort myers beach, florida. if you d like to help those
made in florida alone. some areas said to be completely unlivable. cnn s layla santiago rode along with rescue crews searching for survivors. reporter: by land, by water, the search continues across the hard-hit area across lee county florida nearly a week after hurricane ian left behind total devastation and more than 100 people dead. the central rescue task force is still looking for survivors. their mission, get to the man groves on the barrier island of sanibel which was cut off. there s a large population of commercial shrimp vessels and mooring fields where people live on sailboats and cabin cruisers year round. many of the people will ride out a storm on their boat. that s their home. many of those vessels have been pushed deep into the mangroves in an inaccessible area so we re taking small boats to get into
residents of sanibel island today will be able to return to see what is left of their homes. residents have to access that barrier island now by boat. it remains cut off from the mainland. ian ripped apart a causeway. cnn s layla santiago just arrived a few moments ago and is able to file this report. reporter: this is west gulf drive, one of the main streets here on sanibel island. it s also a place where the residents tell me was the worst hit. this is now a street that s lined with debris. can you see straight into homes and see personal belongings everywhere. you also have part of a roof that is sitting on the side of the street. to make the point of exactly how powerful this storm was, residents tell me that this was actually across the street. now you can see straight in what was once a kitchen, a family room, no longer here. the equipment and refrigerator now partially on the the door.
flood-ravaged house. it was coated in mud and we looked into the kitchen and she sees this muddy american flag sitting on the kitchen counter and she took it upon herself in the middle of all of this that she s dealing with on a personal level and she wanted to make sure that she saved the american flag and put it outside of her home. and it just it just tears you up inside to see people going through what they re going through right now, pam. yeah, really moving. that little anecdote. and her story is so representative of what so many floridians are going through right now, those that you were talking to, seeing the destruction up close. jim acosta, thank you. we ll check back in with you soon. you bet. let s travel about 30 miles south along the gulf coast, layla santiago is in naples. what are you seeing today? reporter: a lot of cleanup and salvage mode is what one
ran over and carried them over the landslide so we could get them out before the house collapsed. reporter: the recovery ahead without its own set of challenges. the hurricane and the related storm has impacted the whole island so we re still in the middle of this event. we are basically responding at this point. the next step will be recovery. lines are forming, people getting gas, diesel to power the generators they need to be able to turn the lights on at home since there is no power. the governor says he expects that by tomorrow night a good chunk of the island will have power restored. one big exception, the southern part of the island. one of the hardest hit areas in puerto rico right now. layla santiago, cnn, puerto rico. time for a quick break now