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Five months after Hurricane Ian, Fort Myers residents need homes, FEMA aid and trauma care

A damaged home in Fort Meyers, Florida. (Robin Young/Here & Now)
A damaged home in Fort Meyers, Florida. (Robin Young/Here & Now)

It’s been about five months since Hurricane Ian tore through Florida’s southern coast, killing 152 people. Five were suicides. The cost of the damage was high: between 50 and 65 billion in insured losses, including 5,000 destroyed homes and another 30,000 damaged.

Here & Now‘s Robin Young talks to WGCU reporters Eileen Kelley and John Davis who have been covering the story since September. They talk about the aftermath of the storm — including tangibles like lost jobs, damaged homes and the difficulty in getting aid from agencies like FEMA, and the intangibles, like trauma and mental health.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.