Nearly a week after Hurricane Ian became one of the most powerful storms ever to hit Florida, the extent of the damage is becoming clearer, with communities across the southeastern United States affected to varying degrees and catastrophic destruction concentrated in the coastal area around Fort Myers, reports Egan Millard of Episcopal News Service.

Episcopalians from the Diocese of Southwest Florida and beyond are banding together to begin the long process of recovery, starting with meeting the immediate needs of people whose homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable.

Internet and phone service outages, impassable roads, gas shortages and curfews have made it difficult or impossible for some parishes to figure out how their buildings and parishioners fared.

A few – including St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church on Sanibel Island – have been using Facebook to share updates on who has been confirmed safe and who has not.

Click here to read more …