On September 28th, category 4 Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida. The areas primarily affected included Cape Coral, Fort Myers Beach, Naples, Orlando, the Florida Keys, and Sanibel Island to name a few. The impact of Hurricane Ian resulted in multiple homes being torn and flooded, as well as experiencing power outages, and caused around 119 casualties. Many people lost their homes and their towns were destroyed by the wind surges and flooding.
This catastrophic event brought many Floridians as well as the rest of America together, however, and it can be accredited to the documentation made on TikTok. At the time of the hurricane and the days to come, many people resorted to TikTok to document and share their experiences during the hurricane. Residents of places like Fort Myers Beach showed the eight-foot floods they had been impacted with, others showed themselves kayaking through their neighborhood showing visuals of the hurricane’s aftermath. Additionally, many people shared the goodwill of those helping the ones in need, such as the U.S. Coast Guard rescuing Sanibel residents, and other good samaritans rescuing pets that had been left behind.
The perspectives of those impacted by Hurricane Ian were captured all over social media, but thanks to TikTok’s algorithm, awareness about the hurricane’s destruction was spread and many around the state and the country were able to witness what many people in southwest Florida had the misfortune of experiencing.