5 Months On, Victims of Hurricane Ian Still Live in Limbo

Homes destroyed, jobs gone, and lives turned upside down, thousands in Southwest Florida subsist amid the ruins 150 days after storm's landfall

Pine Island Road before the Matlacha Pass Bridge is lined with derelict buildings, including condos and businesses, that have not yet been demolished five months after they were slammed by Hurricane Ian. John Haughey/The Epoch Times

MATLACHA, Fla.—Jeff Funchion sits in a wicker loveseat in the slim shade of a travel trailer with a fan pushing air and carpets unrolled before him on a crushed-shell driveway with a 50-foot-long cement pad at the end.

He’s waiting for a buyer on this Sunday afternoon, hoping someone will come along and purchase his lot in Florida with its vacant pad. Plus, he lives here.