Hurricane Ian makes landfall with a vengeance

Hurricane Ian batters Florida

Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday in southwest Florida as one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the U.S., swamping city streets with water and smashing trees along the coast.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Hurricane Ian became a showcase for the power of nature and wind waves and surge. Many of those images were documented on social media.

People posted horrific shots of an out of control ocean; waves and winds crashing ashore with a mighty vengeance.

KTVU zoomed with Tim Tullis, who lives in the Sarasota-Bradenton area, when Hurricane Ian was less than 40 miles away; just beyond the hurricane's core strength. Tullis said, We just invested in shatter resistant windows, so we're very comfortable with that. We have not lost power. But, shortly after the interview, Tullis lost power and internet. "They're telling us that we're far enough away that we'll probably see tropical force winds and not hurricane force winds," said Tullis.

The Shasteens live in Tampa, less than 150 yards from Tampa Bay.

They live just a few feet above sea level. "I was terrified and I really felt that we needed to get anything of value out of here because I didn't know if we came back here if we'd find anything," said Lisa Shasteen.

Tracking Ian (FOX Weather)

With old oaks all over their neighborhood, and high winds all around, a lengthy power failure is of great concern. "We have a couple of coolers with some dry ice in them sitting, just in case we lose power so we can offload some of the stuff from the freezer and the fridge," said Phil Shasteen.

Though Tampa and Sarasota appear to have dodged the worst of it, towns south, contain a half-million Floridians have received grievous damages, no doubt, reaching the ten of billions of dollars.