Florida Hurricane Ian Relief

October 2022 – September 2024
Last updated: September 2024

All Hands and Hearts (AHAH) is in Florida responding to the devastating impacts of 2022’s Hurricane Ian. Utilizing our volunteer-powered disaster relief model, as of the end of August 2024, we have impacted over 1,612 people affected by the hurricane.

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Our Work

Since the program’s launch in October 2022, All Hands and Hearts has conducted various scopes of disaster relief work in Fort Myers and surrounding Lee County, which suffered massive damage to homes and infrastructure in the hurricane. In our second year of operation, our goal remains to get vulnerable community members back into safe, secure and functional homes.

The impact of this work extends beyond physical improvements. For the families and individuals assisted so far, each property cleared, each home stripped of muck and mold or repaired provides a foundation for renewed hope. Together, the households assisted in contributing to a stronger, revitalized community.

Current Activities

The team has transitioned to a consistent, diverse mix of construction and community work, providing varied support to the Fort Myers area. We’ve assisted local food bank Gladiolus Food Pantry, serving community members’ essential needs weekly by cleaning, stocking and sorting food for distribution.

In June, Hurricane Ian staff and volunteers responded to severe flooding in Broward County. They returned in mid-July to Hallandale Beach, distributing items donated by Lasko (50 industrial fans, 50 dehumidifiers) and The WASH Foundation (200 hygiene kits) to flood-affected individuals at Lakeshore and Bamboo Mobile Home Parks, aiding in drying homes, preventing mold and improving community recovery and future flood preparedness.

Disaster Profile

Hurricane Ian started as a tropical depression on September 24, 2022, and underwent a rapid intensification, making its first landfall in Cuba as a category 3 hurricane. After intensifying to a category 4 hurricane, it made a second landfall on the west coast of Florida near Fort Myers on September 28, causing devastating impacts to coastal cities and towns along with catastrophic flooding further inland. Ian’s 150 mph winds, storm surge and rainfall caused power outages across the state, damaged infrastructure and overturned cars and boats. After slowly crossing central Florida, the storm exited at Daytona Beach and made another landfall in South Carolina as a category 1 storm.

Ian ties seven other storms as the fifth strongest to make landfall in the United States. Its wind speed was shy of a category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 157 mph. At landfall, there was at least a 12-foot storm surge in the Fort Myers area, destroying homes and causing extensive flooding.