The Daily: Florida After Hurricane Ian

As the sun came up over Florida yesterday, a fuller picture began to emerge of the destruction that Hurricane Ian had inflicted on the state and its residents.

The Category 4 storm washed away roads, bridges, cars, boats and homes. The damage is so extensive that, according to the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, it may take years to rebuild.

Guests: Patricia Mazzei, the Miami bureau chief for The New York Times; Richard Fausset, a Times correspondent based in Atlanta; Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, a national news reporter for The Times; and Hilary Swift, a photojournalist.

Background reading: 

reveals how warm ocean waters in the Gulf of Mexico provided the fuel that turned Hurricane Ian into such a potent force.The scale of the wreckage was staggering, even to Florida residents who had survived and rebuilt after other powerful hurricanes.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.