These 3 factors proved critical – and deadly – in Florida's preparation for Hurricane Ian
Were people evacuated in time? Amid a high death toll, the USA TODAY Network created a detailed evacuation and storm timeline, finding three major factors contributed to the severity of the storm.
Well before Hurricane Ian's seething torrent of saltwater began killing people in coastal Lee County, a complicated equation developed by the state was already underway.
Mostly mathematical, it ticks through evacuation machinations that consider storm surge height, traffic, whether it's tourist season, and the timing of damaging winds to create a timeline on how best to get people to safety ahead of a storm.
But there's also human nature and Mother Nature, both unpredictable variables in the calculation.
A week after Category 4 Hurricane Ian made landfall in Lee County, known for the shell-rich sands of Sanibel Island and kitschy Fort Myers Beach, 50 people in the county are dead from the storm, representing more than half of all Ian-related deaths in Florida.