Vulnerable and Trapped: A Look at Those Lost in Hurricane Ian (2023)

NAPLES, Fla. — Rose Marie Santangelo has weathered many hurricanes in her decades of living by the water outside Naples, Fla. She also thought she was prepared for Hurricane Ian.

But like so many other Florida residents, Santangelo, 73, a beloved aunt who retired from a career in radiation oncology, downplayed this storm.

“She really thought it wasn't going to happen here,” said Phyllis Santangelo, a niece. “And then when everything changed, I think she knew it was going to be bad.”

Ian caused more deaths in Florida - at least 114 - than any hurricane in nearly 90 years. Another five people died from the storm in North Carolina, as well as one in Virginia. Like Santangelo, residents were trapped in floodwaters inside their homes. Others stopped breathing when power cuts left oxygen machines inoperable. Or died in cars when the storm rose.

But the storm's impact, while felt broadly, was not uniform.

Most victims were elderly. Two-thirds of them were aged 60 or older, and 30 were in their 80s.

People who died were concentrated in exposed coastal areas and on barrier islands. While deaths were reported in 21 counties, nearly half came from Lee County in southwest Florida.

And a large number of victims - at least 58 - drowned, as Ian said.size, relatively slow movementand a huge storm multiplied its threat.

As residents sift through the wreckage in Florida, a look at who died and where revealed how an aging population on the coast proved especially vulnerable to Ian. In many cases, the people who died had pre-existing medical problems, waited too long to evacuate, and were trapped in the floods. In some of the worst-hit areas, evacuation orders that were delayed amid changes in the storm's trajectory added to the confusion.

Many victims had significant medical problems.

As Hurricane Ian approached southwest Florida, Peggy Collson, 67, became increasingly concerned about her ability to survive. She lived alone in the island community of Matlacha, in a modest one-story house on the waterfront that had withstood previous hurricanes. But Ms. Collson, who received daily care from nursing aides and was unable to walk unaided, knew she would be at risk.

Just days before the hurricane, she tried to leave the island, said her brother Jim Collson, who lives in New York. But she finally decided to stay. On the morning of the storm, September 28, her fears increased.

“She was so nervous she was nauseous,” he said.

Mrs. Collson drowned. She was found floating in a canal just a few blocks from her home.

Five of Mrs. Santangelo's nieces and nephews came from Ohio to clean the house. Ten days after the storm, they were around the kitchen island by candlelight, drinking their aunt's favorite Pinot Grigio. They planned to scatter her ashes around the palm trees.

“She was very loved,” said Phyllis Santangelo. “She never had children; we were her children.

The long waits for rescue were sometimes too long.

Alice F. Argo called law enforcement 10 times in nearly 12 hours as floodwaters rose at her home in New Smyrna Beach, on Florida's Atlantic coast, where Ian dumped heavy rains after sweeping across the state.

Around noon on September 29, Mrs. Argo told dispatchers that the water was up to her knees. She later said her husband, Jerry W. Argo, 67, had fallen and hit his head. She kept calling. They told her they had a backlog of rescue calls and were waiting for specialized equipment to get through the floodwaters.

Lisa Mitchell, daughter of Mrs. Argo, said that Argo fell off a bar stool into the water. Mrs. Argo tried to support his head to keep him above water. It was not enough.

Mitchell said she wished she could have helped, but she too got stuck: "My whole backyard was flooded."

Ian's death toll was historic, but the exact figures can be confusing.

On October 1, shortly after Ian's brutal impact on southwest Florida, a spokeswoman for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office said via email that "we currently have 23 deaths that are directly or indirectly related to the storm." She added that the local coroner would later determine the official causes of death. Two days later, she said the death toll in Charlotte County had risen to 24.

But until this week, the medical examiner there had linked only eight of those deaths to Hurricane Ian, ruling that most of the rest weren't caused by the storm after all.

The difference in numbers in Charlotte County underscores the subjective science of determining which storm deaths were at least in part caused by the storm.

Some findings are obvious, such as when a person drowns after their home is flooded during a hurricane. But some are less clear.

In other Florida counties, coroners added four suicides, one homicide, motor vehicle accidents and several heart attacks to the state's official hurricane death toll, determining that circumstances caused by the storm contributed to the deaths.

It's relatively common for death counts to change: In Lee County, the medical examiner ruled that six deaths reported by the sheriff were not linked to Ian. Some Florida counties continued to tally deaths this week, meaning the current tally may not be definitive.

Away from the coast, Ian was still claiming victims.

Not long after Ian arrived on the mainland, Craig Steven Markgraff Jr., known as CJ, called his brother for help.

“I explained to him that I was already in the middle of it,” said his brother, Brett Markgraff, who was in another city with his son.

CJ, his father and a friend tried to escape the storm near Zolfo Springs, a small town almost an hour's drive from the Gulf Coast. But being inland was no defense against the massive amounts of rain and flooding that the storm brought.

As conditions improved, on the morning of September 29, Brett Markgraff left for his brother's house, but the road where his brother lived was under water. CJ stopped responding to messages, so Brett Markgraff tried to take a canoe home. He was stopped by state officials who blocked off the area.

“I was stunned and helpless,” said Markgraff.

A few days later, a detective called the father and said that CJ's body had been found and identified by his tattoos.

Some left home and were trapped.

Ian Conway, 61, a retired pilot, lived in a beige one-bedroom house in an RV community in Estero, on the banks of the Estero River. Living in an area prone to flooding, he always assured Margot Conway, one of his two daughters, that he would go to shelter in the event of a severe hurricane.

On the morning of Hurricane Ian, he sent an email to his brothers saying he was going to a shelter, Conway said. But he never got there.

Just before 7 am the next morning, a neighbor called Mrs. Conway in Washington State. Her father was found dead from drowning, lying on a bench in the shuffleboard court across the street from their home.

Last summer Mr. Conway's health took a turn for the worse. Mrs. Conway, an emergency room nurse, encouraged her father to adopt assisted living, but he wanted to live alone.

Ten days after the hurricane, Mrs. Conway spent a quiet moment at the funeral home with her father's remains, playing her favorite Smiths song.

“I have to say goodbye,” she said. “I didn't think I would be able to.”

Alex Lemonides and Campbell Robertson contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy and Kitty Bennett contributed research.