SANIBEL ISLAND

Federal officials say U.S. aid to Florida for recovery from Hurricane Ian has topped the $2 billion mark.

It has been a month since Hurricane Ian ravaged southwest Florida.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the reopening of the causeway linking Sanibel Island to the mainland that was washed out by Hurricane Ian.

The causeway linking the island to the Florida mainland reopened with temporary repairs just three weeks after it was washed out by the hurricane. The reopening will help recovery work on the island.

"There are a lot [of] places that are not livable," Sanibel Fire Chief William Briscoe told CNN. "There are alligators running around."

A destroyed Sanibel Causeway, eroded beaches and piled up boats are just some of the scenes of devastation that were captured.

The Florida Department of Emergency Management held a news conference Monday morning to give an update on recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ian.

A photographer who helps chronicle life on Florida's Sanibel Island stayed there during Hurricane Ian. Chuck Larsen with Santiva Chronicle.com was rescued and is now in Orlando. He says he believes the Sanibel community will rebuild. (Oct. 3)

In historically African-American Dunbar, some think that they are being ignored by authorities who are more concerned about helping affluent seaside communities.

As authorities in Florida try to reach people who have been trapped by floodwaters or isolated on barrier islands since Hurricane Ian came ashore last week, concerned members of the public have been springing into action to aid the official rescue efforts.

Manatee County has some good news for beach lovers after Hurricane Ian.

Experts say that Hurricane Ian is shining a spotlight once again on the vulnerability of the nation’s barrier islands and the increasing cost of people living on them.

A popular tourist destination in Florida, Sanibel Island was heavily damaged by hurricane Ian, and it has given rescuers a hard time.

Hurricane Ian washed away several portions of the Sanibel Causeway, a series of bridges linking the island to the rest of the state. It will require structural rebuilds, Florida's governor says.

The Strader family was stuck on Sanibel Island for two days, as the only road out was ripped away by storm surge.

An aircrew from Air Station Miami, U.S. Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin, rescued several people stranded in Sanibel Island Thursday. On Friday, the U.S. Coast Guard District 7 shared the body camera video of the rescues.

After traveling Thursday to Southwest Florida to get a glimpse of the damage caused by Hurricane Ian, Gov. Ron DeSantis described the impact on Lee County’s Sanibel Island as “destruction,” with people who didn’t evacuate being rescued by air and part of a causeway to the mainland knocked out.

"We are heart sick and devastated, but our community will prove to be so much stronger than Ian," Mayor Holly Smith said of the island, which has been cut off from Florida's mainland.

Sanibel Island was a perfect escape for many people from South Florida. A place to pick shells, see nature, have a good meal, kick back in the sand.

Videos showing before and after images from Florida show how quickly Hurricane Ian flooded parts of Fort Myers and Sanibel Island after the storm made landfall.

The causeway is the only way for vehicles to enter or leave Sanibel and Captiva islands.

Hurricane Ian destroyed a section of the causeway connecting Sanibel Island with mainland Florida on Wednesday. Roughly 2.5 million are without power and hundreds feared dead.

As Ian continued its destructive trek across Florida, over a million households across the state awoke on Thursday without electricity as residents and emergency crews along the Gulf Coast began to assess the toppled buildings, flooded streets and crippled infrastructure.

Hurricane Ian has regained some strength after exiting Florida and taking aim at South Carolina.

Streaming with multiple cameras, Severe Studios, a camera at Fort Myers Beach went viral amid flooding from Hurricane Ian.

Hurricane Ian is currently hitting the Gulf Coast of Florida after strengthening to a Category 4 storm before making landfall, possibly near Port Charlotte.

We expect climate migration to be away from the disasters, not into the teeth of them.

The 175-foot, 846-ton Silver Shalis is owned by New York billionaire Larry Silverstein. The craft was built in 2010 and at one point was for sale for $40 million