Surviving the mental storm of hurricanes [Video]

FT. MYERS BEACH, Fla. — The official death toll from Hurricane Ian stands at 153 lives lost.

A majority couldn’t survive the physical impacts the terrifying category four storm brought, like blunt force trauma, heart attacks, and drowning, but some died from the emotional stress of taking their own lives.

In just a few hours, Hurricane Ian’s 14-plus foot storm surge changed the physical landscape of Ft. Myers Beach, leaving scars that are both visible and invisible.

“Everybody on this island has some level of PTSD,” Adrian Barrett said.

ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska sat down with Alice and Adrian Barrett, husband and wife, inside their Ft. Myers Beach home. The transplants from Aurora, Illinois, survived many blizzards and tornadoes and can now add a category-four hurricane to the list.

“Could you even think about surviving another storm mentally?” Paluska asked Ft. Myers Beach residents Alice and Adrian Barrett. 

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