Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday in southwest Florida as one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the U.S., swamping streets with water and smashing trees along the coast while moving at a crawl that threatened catastrophic flooding across a wide area. See photos of the storm in Florida and Cuba, and its aftermath.
Hurricane Ian hits Florida
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Brianna Renas, 17, inspects a fallen palm tree outside her home in Cape Coral after riding out Hurricane Ian with her family on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Cape Coral. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
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Just before the Sanibel Causeway, a spiral staircase was deposited in the brush next to a white pickup as Hurricane Ian passed the area Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022 in Sanibel, Fla. Hurricane Ian has left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2.5 million people. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
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Businesses in downtown Fort Myers, Fla., suffered damage from Hurricane Ian Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022 in Fort Myers, Fla., Hurricane Ian has left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2.5 million people. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
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A section of the causeway leading to Sanibel, Fla., in Lee County was knocked out by Hurricane Ian Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. Hurricane Ian has left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2.5 million people. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
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Waves crash along the Ballast Point Pier ahead of Hurricane Ian, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Ian's most damaging winds have begun hitting Florida's southwest coast as the storm approaches landfall. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
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Access roads to the Sunshine Skyway bridge are blocked off as the span is closed due to high winds from Hurricane Ian on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Hurricane Ian has made landfall in southwestern Florida as a massive Category 4 storm.(Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
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This satellite image taken at 3:06 p.m. EDT and provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Ian making landfall in southwest Florida near Cayo Costa, Fla., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, as a catastrophic Category 4 storm. (NOAA via AP)
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The entrance to the Walt Disney theme park is seen as the park is closed as Hurricane Ian bears down on Florida, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
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A damaged apartment from an apparent overnight tornado spawned from Hurricane Ian at Kings Point 55+ community in Delray Beach, Fla., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Ian's most damaging winds have begun hitting Florida's southwest coast as the storm approaches landfall. (Carline Jean /South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
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This image provided by the Naples Fire Rescue Department shows firefighters looking out at the firetruck that stands in water from the storm surge from Hurricane Ian on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022 in Naples, Fla. Hurricane Ian has made landfall in southwestern Florida as a massive Category 4 storm. (Naples Fire Department via AP)
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People walk where water is receding out of Tampa Bay due to a negative surge ahead of Hurricane Ian, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
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A truck pulls a man on a kayak on a low-lying road after flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, in Key West, Fla., Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Mary Martin)
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Huge waves crash against a seawall in the wake of Hurricane Ian in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. Cuba remained in the dark early Wednesday after Ian knocked out its power grid and devastated some of the country's most important tobacco farms when it hit the island's western tip as a major storm. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
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People walk where water is receding out of Tampa Bay due to a negative surge ahead of Hurricane Ian, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
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Utility trucks are staged in a rural lot in The Villages of Sumter County, Fla., Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified as it neared landfall along Florida's southwest coast Wednesday morning, gaining top winds of 155 mph (250 kph), just shy of the most dangerous Category 5 status. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
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An airplane overturned by a likely tornado produced by the outer bands of Hurricane Ian is shown, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, Fla. Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified as it neared landfall along Florida's southwest coast Wednesday morning, gaining top winds of 155 mph (250 kph), just shy of the most dangerous Category 5 status. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)