(NewsNation) — Siesta Keys, Fla. resident Jacquie Jordan had seen tornados, wildfires and earthquakes prior to moving to Florida. But none of those natural disasters compare to what she experienced when Hurricane Ian moved through Florida on Wednesday, she said.
Jordan, who endured the hurricane in Sarasota County, just north of where the heart of the storm pummeled Cape Coral and Port Charlotte, said the experience of the hurricane was “kind of mind blowing.
“We literally endured over 100 mph winds for probably like 10 hours,” Jordan said. “It was a pounding, it was loud, water was coming in. The way the wind would come, it would come in a direction you wouldn’t expect it in. It was kind of mind blowing.”
Hurricane Ian moved across central and southwest Florida slowly Wednesday, grinding across the state and wreaking havoc with its huge storm surges and 150 mph winds.
“This hurricane was so wide and so slow we just sat in it for hours on end,” Jordan said.
Like 2.6 million other Floridians, Jordan said her and her family were still without power Thursday.
“We’ve been without refrigeration, without air conditioning, which at this moment seems like luxury considering the suffering that other people are going through,” Jordan said.
Rescue crews and emergency responders were deployed early Thursday morning to pick through the wreckage left by the storm and rescue those who were left stranded by floodwaters and broken bridges.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a news conference Thursday that more than 700 people had been rescued. Jordan said it was apparent emergency responders were prepared to deal with the aftermath of the storm.
“We saw the Texas National Guard was using the high school lot … there are a massive amount of out-of-state resources and in-state resources going to Fort Myers and Cape Coral and Port Charlotte for the cleanup,” Jordan said. “It is very, very evident and everybody is very conscious of that, everyone is aware of what’s happening and volunteers, people are ready to participate in what needs to happen next.”