The video begins just before 10am and ends at 7:40pm on September 28, 2022. The camera probe is placed 15 feet up on a concrete pole at Estero Blvd and Ave C, facing northwest. I truly have not watched every second of the footage, so viewers be cautioned, there could be unknown disturbing footage. Here are a few key moments to point out… 27:30 - First sign of storm surge 29:33 - Resident of pink house moves car, goes back inside 1:04:20 - Gust blows door open on pink house 2:26:00 - Surge reaches top of fence 4:18:38 - Pink house collapse into water with residents inside (they all survived) 8:40:00 - Surge fully recedes 9:28:00 - Eerie red sunset

This might be the best storm surge footage of all time. I cannot recall another video that captures the absolute scale of what happened in the way this video does. Incredible.

What blows me away (pun not intended) is how fast it went from "here's a street" to "oh, we're in the middle of the ocean now."

RIP to the “Avenue C “street sign. You held on like a hero- went down fiercely fighting and doing your duty to let all know what street you represent. 🙏🏼 🌧️ 🚏

I live just 2 streets behind this camera. Thank you for releasing the footage with no “fluff”. PS that pink house HAD 2 people in it at the start of the video I was lucky enough to trust my gut and leave. I lost everything but my life

Everyone warns about storm surges but no one can understand how dangerous they are. Thank you for your video.

I think this is the best hurricane footage ever taken. I grew up in Florida and have seen a bunch of hurricanes, but never any footage like this. This should be used to educate people about the danger of storm surge, and why they need to evacuate when they are warned too.

I grew up in pre-Katrina New Orleans and watched many hurricanes from my dad's office on the 51st floor of the Shell building. The inch thick glass in the floor to ceiling windows protected my bird's eye view of the entire city while I watched for hours as high winds and flood waters attempted to destroy it. I thought I'd never see anything that gave me a better view of the destructive power of a hurricane but I am still picking my jaw off the floor as I write this. The perspective of the camera and the length of time that was documented (before, during and after) makes this extremely powerful footage. The fact that the recording equipment was not lost is itself remarkable. Thank you for sharing this. Hopefully it can help save lives in the future. Thank you!

One minute you are in the relative safety of a building. The next minute that building is in the middle of the ocean. Absolutely terrifying

Being 20 minutes away from this and not getting no flooding is beyond me. Thank you for this epic video!!!

That was freaking insane. It’s crazy how the ocean surges up like that and then it’s gone. That red sunset was eerie indeed. Wow! Amazing footage! 👍🏼

This video is by far the best in storm surge of a powerful hurricane. I'm 61 years old and have never ever seen that kind of water damage. It's like the entire ocean came into a regular everyday city street. Thank you so much for a very educational experience in what a powerful storm surge can do.

They should show this video on TV before every hurricane season start . BEST VIDEO EVER !!!!!!!!!!!

Shout out to the 3 palm trees to the left... True representation of Florida,you can knock a few leaves off our surface but in the end of every storm we will always be left standing...

Absolutely incredible, and Extremely terrifying footage! Im happy to hear the residents in the pink house somehow survived!!

Wow....just impressive. All of it. Am I the only one impressed at this camera? Nearly 10 hours straight, no telling how many Gigabytes of data, excellent battery life (or supplemental power), and lastly - the structure it was mounted to (utility pole)? Very impressive!

The red house literally vanished 💀

Thanks Max, this is an important teaching tool and even a historical artifact. Up there with the videos from 2004 showing everyone for the first time what a tsunami looks like. Amazing that at this level of surge, it doesn’t even look like a flood any more - it just looks like the ocean.

I was on holiday in Miami from Scotland whilst this was going on, it's difficult to comprehend the devastation and destruction mother nature is capable of without videos like this.

Those beautiful palm trees 🌴 can withstand so much! It’s amazing.

Just skipping from timestamp to timestamp shows how powerful this storm was. It's crazy

I know I'll sound weird but I always feel sorry for the poor trees! 🌳 😢🌳

29:50 The person who drives up, parks their car, goes into their home…but the car never left. Did…did we just see someone in their final moments? The house is completely washed away at the end of the video…it is so sad and heartbreaking to see. Did they leave? Did someone pick them up before the storm surges? EDIT: someone posted a similar comment and found out they survived - details are in that thread.

This is probably the most exact recollection of what I saw when Hurricane Katrina hit my town that sat on the MS/LA state line in the southernmost point of Hancock county. This was chilling to sit through.

This is incredible footage...never seen anything like it before. I don't know how you did this or how the camera just kept on recording, but well done. Extremely powerful and educational for anyone who may question evacuating during a storm this intense.

4:36:00-6:36:00 people who stayed endured 2 hours of hell on Earth; a teaching moment for anyone who considers staying ahead of a major storm. Also a good teaching moment for developers looking to build in hurricane prone landscapes.

the best storm surge footage of all time. what an incredible force of nature. I was on the edge of my seat. There are no words for this. How quickly that water came up, and how bravely that red house in the foreground tried to hold on. But in the end it lost that battle. All the best to those people there, especially because on August 16 of this year 2023, they again received so much water. I pray for them.

I watched this when you first posted it back when Ian hit. It blew me away and still does. You can never understand till you see it. Amazing video and I hope you capture alot more like this of weather. ❤

The continuous surge is absolutely incredible. You never see this on news channels. Sorry for all lives lost and valuable possessions.

29:34 - The man who lived in the second floor apartment of the red house drives his car to park it in the lot across the street, while his wife / girlfriend waves to him from their porch. This attempt to save the car from the arriving storm surge was sadly inadequate, to say the least. This couple astonishingly managed to survive this disaster, as their home was completely destroyed, which of course is shown in this video at 4:18:36. The windows and door have long since been blown in by the wind at this point, and after repeated hits by waves, the front wall of the house finally gives way and the entire second story detaches and is pushed away to the right.

Storm surges are like slow motion tsunamis. We all saw what the tsunami did in Japan. This is what happens when the water stays on top of you for hours, then compounded by 150+ MPH winds! This is FAR worse than a tsunami. Thanks for posting. I'll be sure to show this to anyone who refuses to evacuate from a coastal storm.

I have never seen anything like this. I’m in shock. It’s something everyone needs to watch.

This was absolutely incredible! To see the storm surge completely unfold like that was mind blowing. Thank you for this amazing footage! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Just drove down this street last week and if you didn't know the building was there before, you wouldn't know it even existed. For example, Hooters was just a few yards behind this camera and there is absolutely nothing there now except sand and some hardly visible foundation. Almost every wooden structure on FMB has been completely wiped out. The majority of Highrise condos down Estero Blvd (this street) are still surrounded by chain-link fencing. Not a tasteless plug, but my channel has several videos if you want to see more.

Dear God how did the pink house residents survive? This footage should be more widely published to demonstrate what a storm surge can do. This is horrific and eye opening. Thank you for posting it!

This was amazing and should be watched by everyone in storm surge areas, then they just might evacuate and take greater care of their lives! Thanks so much for sharing!

Dear Lord! This deepened my whole perception of the absolute horror and devastation that a hurricane causes! I knew hurricanes were a big deal but until this video I never knew just HOW big and dangerous they really can be. I kind of never took them as serious as other types of storms/natural disasters. This seems like a tornado on a much bigger and slower scale. AND a tsunami on a much slower scale. Crazy!

The term "a picture is worth 1000 words" rings even more true when it comes to video. If anyone on Earth ever wondered what the full ferocity of hurricane/typhoon storm surge is like, let them watch this video for a taste. Easily the best example of storm surge ever recorded on video, this terrifying footage should be nominated for one of the documentary-category Academy Awards. Many compliments and thanks to the people who placed this camera and produced this awesome video. My dog and I survived category 5 Hurricane Andrew in the bathtub of my first story apartment in 1992. As the building came apart around me, I was blissfully unaware of storm surge. Thankfully the surge never came in Andrew, or I certainly would not be writing this today. God bless the people of Fort Myers Beach.

Nine hours of a non-stop rushing river of ocean water wiping out almost everything in its path. It’s incomprehensible. You wouldn’t believe it if this footage was not recorded. The immense and destructive power of nature is breathtaking. Living in Alabama with our sliver of the Gulf Coast, I’ve seen the aftermath of major hurricanes. But I will never look at hurricanes the same way again after seeing this. My takeaway: Always evacuate. Always.

Storm surges are freaky. Excellent longform footage. Thank you for sharing.

Absolutely incredible and historic footage of such a devastating storm. Thank you so much for uploading the full version!

Barrier islands are formed by storm events. Anyone wishing to buy or build real estate on a barrier island should first watch this incredible video! This footage should also be used in meteorology classes. A very valuable teaching tool! Thank you for filming and posting this video, it's a wonderful contribution to weather science.

I want to thank you for this footage. I always came to Ft. Meyers with my family and in the winter time we always stayed here, but in the campgrounds. Watching this is the only way I can wrap my head around it being destroyed 😢😢😭😭😭😭

This really needs to be shown nationally.... ❤❤❤❤❤❤

I sped up the video bc it's seemingly 9 hours, and it was almost unbelievable to watch. This video will be a part of the history of hurricane Ian and will live on KZfaq for generations. Great video.

I truly enjoy watching videos like this. It gives you a sense of what people go through in a hurricane. Great footage.

I live about an hour away from here and I still remember hearing those winds whipping around my house. Those winds were terrifying enough and I cannot even imagine having to deal with that kind of storm surge! I will never forget that day.

That was intense!! My heart breaks for everyone affected by this storm

Wow, thanks for posting this! I live in Ft. Myers and work on Sanibel. I saw the aftermath of it all, but never the surge from start to finish. I know so many people that have lost everything, this is incredible and heartbreaking knowing how many lives were lost!

The fact that someone parked that black car got out and ran to that house for it to not even 3 almost 4 hours later get just sweeped up shows u hurricane are no joke the coastaline mainly but it still can get so bad other places and so many lives are taken bc people dont listen! Thank you for sharing this and showing pwople how dangerous these actually can be!

This is the closest you can get to witnessing a storm. For a better effect, have a strong fan blowing in your face, with a water spray. GOOD VID !!!

I saw an interview where there were a couple, and their dog that decided to stay and ride it out who lived in the red house on the left...thank God they made it out alive. Always listen to the warnings ⚠️

I will never ever underestimate another Storm Surge again. 🙏 just wow thanks for this epic footage.

I lived 5 miles off from here and when Ian hit. Our town is still trying to rebuild and it’ll never be the same. So many lives lost as they could not give out an accurate estimate due to failure of evacuation notices. All of our barrier island such as fort myers beach, sanible, captiva, and st James city are completely gone. In land we have minimal signage and basic street lights now most roofs have never been repaired and many are still blue trapped. Thank you for sharing this video of my beautiful town as we still pick up the pieces a year later ❤️

I saw the back story of the couple in the pink house. What a scary ordeal they encountered. I'm happy they survived that nightmare.

I watched the entire thing. It was educational, suspenseful, tragic, horrific and peaceful as it progressed. Well worth the watch!

I absolutely could not believe my eyes when I first saw this footage and the building floated away down the street. I double couldn’t believe it when I learned there was people inside. I triple couldn’t believe it when I heard the people and their dog all survived!

I grew up & raised in ft Myers/ naples area literally for 27 yrs. This video got me tears 😢 unbelievable.

I've never seen a video quite like this one. It really captures the true reality of these storms.

Incredible footage! We all owe this little camera for capturing this act of Mother Nature 😮

This is amazing! You captured a full storm surge from the very beginning showing how dangerous these are! scary

Seeing this in like real time. It just hits different. I can't describe it really. How scary.

Thank you for posting this video. I had no idea how quickly a storm surge could turn so serious. I hope the man seen entering the little red building survived.

wow, thank you for sharing this, its incredible

The wind was incredible, it sounded like a high speed train passing right next to the house for hours on end. I'll never forget that sound. We've stayed through quite a few hurricane's while living here in SW Florida, Ian was the absolute worst. We were lucky, we live closer to the Caloosahatchie River side of the Cape and are at a higher elevation. Still, the wind, I won't stay if we face another storm that bad. Watching this unbelievable footage gives me the chills, thank you for posting it.

I've lived in Fort Myers for 20 years. I've driven by this exact spot countless times. That little pink beach house that got swept away? Partied there more than once during my high school years. I went down to the island a few months after the hurricane. Completely surreal to see part of your hometown look like a warzone. I saw things I've only ever seen on a TV screen - blackhawk helicopters, military vehicles, FEMA camps, the list goes on. Had several friends that lived on the island who lost absolutely everything. A buddy of mine who's a firefighter worked the island the first week after the storm. Said they were pulling bodies out of rubble by the hundreds. The death toll is way higher than the official stated number. What a devastating time. But a year on, FMB is well into bouncing back. Just hope we can get through this hurricane season unscathed. Fingers crossed!

It really does give you a whole new perspective on just how fast it turns deadly and clips don't or can't do that in a manner that the full length footage does. I have been through several here along the mid Atlantic. My dad was an electrical lineman and had to be rescued when he got stranded between the ocean and a bay. 50 some years later now I really see how that can happen so fast now.

This hurricane was an experienced for me. I was in the cape, with my lady and 2 dogs. Felt the full force from cat5 to cat2 and never gonna forget that day. So glad my house was able to handle such force. 😢

Amazing footage....you can actually tell when the eye passes over and the surge reaches peak. Then when the wind direction changes that water gets blown back into the ocean.

Educational indeed!! Wow... I live in Sarasota and was hunkered down during this event...waiting for it to hit us when it suddenly went south. The winds here were truly scary...seeing the winds outside the windows reminded me of a strange powerful huge space-age non-stoppable machine that just kept going

1.4 million views,you can see why..rarely is footage this good!

Best storm video. A science teacher’s dream. 🙏for Floridians.

THIS IS SO CRAZY AND WHAT A GREAT CAMERA, SO SAD.. BEST VIDEO COVERAGE OF ANY STORM FOOTAGE EVER.

This gave me crazy chills 😫

This is the first time I'm watching this. It breaks my heart to see my whole childhood washed away like this! Most of my childhood was spent every summer on that pier!

27:00 is when the waves first start 1:28:40 the door to the red house closes meaning someone was watching the water rise for a while. They should have evacuated.

Thank you so much for this footage. Now I can see what was going on less mile from my own house 😢

Incredible footage.

I use to live on Bay Beach Lane on the south side of FMB ....thank you for posting this uncut video. So much changed in just a few hours. My wife, 1 year old daughter and I were thankfully off the island when it hit. Never forget walking back over that bridge on Thursday and see the damage.

The tail end 80 mph gusts were all we experienced from this storm on the other side of the state, and we still stayed indoors till it was done. Can’t even imagine the force of that sustained wind! Great footage

Crazy to watch, and even crazier to think I lived a few streets down until this hurricane. Worked at the Pierside restaurant. Both work and my place gone, and this shows all of it. Just got a new place now, watching Idalia roll by from the safety of my balcony with a middle finger in hand rn lol

That was so intense. The poor people in the red brick house how terrifying that must have been for them. I've changed my mind to live near the beach.

INSANE!! 🤯🤯🤯🤯 If you can, watch the complete video to get the most possible sense of the power of this event. Pause it, take breaks if needed, but to get the full magnitude of the might of this storm [aside from actually living through it] I strongly suggest it be watched from beginning to end.

This is great video of Ian’s impact on Ft Myers. Have relatives who lived there during this and they thankfully stayed with us up north while it hit. When they returned home they barely had a home left.

This is like watching 911 just before the planes hit. Normal life- then ruin and life changes forever. That was chilling to watch.

At 4:20, the house wanted to check on the car. Ok bad joke. Seriously my god, in the first hour, they could have gotten in the car, driven 20 short minutes inland and been 100% safe, having cocktails in a hotel, with at least their car intact. Instead, they lose the house, the car and almost their lives. I live here in Florida, and I will never understand why ppl in low-lying beach areas often refuse to evacuate. I can understand skepticism. But once Ian was up to cat 4, one hour offshore, and the waves started rolling in big time, there was still a 30 minute window for them to grab their crap, their pets, jump in the car and get outta there. Seriously, just get in the car and GO. They could have gotten out, and only needed to drive a few minutes inland to escape the surge- it doesn’t go that far in! I just do not understand it.

That is truly an amazing video. It is almost incomprehensible to imagine the volume of water pushed by the wind to raise by 15ft.

Unimaginable to survive that! Omg, how terrifying it must have been. Amazing footage, thanks for posting it!

THE BEST footage

Amazing the power! I felt a bit sorry for the palm trees as well

Lost our house in this storm. Flooded and winds tilted the frame, did tons of damage. Of all the hurricanes ive endured in swfl, nothing like this one, it was an entire day and into the night of unrelenting 100mph+ wind. It was genuinely frightening. A lot of people we know were like yep thats it, and moved away. A year later area isnt even close to fully recovered. Craziness.

Thank you so much for sharing this🙏

Anyone who thinks about ignoring the evac order should watch this video! Mother nature is terrifying.

Wow, if you keep flipping back and forth along the footage it's amazing how much power is there just in this area,

Thank you for sharing this scary experience. The cameraman went through that ordeal and survived.

I grew up in North Ft Myers and I knew that area well, almost to the point of being able to name each blade of grass, palm tree, diner, bar beach club, best beach area(secluded to watch the submarine races) etc. I cried and was so depressed for days that ALL these memories were washed away. I feel bad for the residents and visitors who lost all there properties and valubles in this storm. Sanibel island was also a place that I knew by heart. My many times fishing and diving in those beautiful waters are again washed from my memories. I only hope and pray that soon these places will rise again so the future peoples can enjoy this wonderful place. I live in Clermont now and want to make a trip down there to see the places I grew up in but again I am sad to see the places that are no longer there. GOD have mercy on ALL peoples there and make there journey back to somewhat of it was before an easy and fruitful one! That being said that is one of THE best videos of what storm surge and wind can do. PLEASE PEOPLE TAKE HEED TO THIS VIDEO AND BE WARNED!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS YOU ALL(YA'LL) AND BE SAFE..... Dave

Rode both hurricane Charley and Ian here in Punta Gorda, very much on high alert this season with how insanely warm the ocean is and everything right now. Stay safe everyone!

What I imagined a storm surge would be like is nothing like what I saw in this video. I have a much better understanding of why they say that it's the storm surge that kills most people in hurricanes. That was absolutely terrifying and if I had to live through something like that I think I would die of a heart attack long before I ever drowned.

That transition to the reddish-pink at the end there is such a Florida move. Every time it happens it reminds me of how Pennsylvania would turn green before a violent storm were to drop.

I've seen much hurricane footage over the years, this is the absolute best! We never see this type of footage! Great job! WoW!!