Hurricane Ian completely knocked out a portion of the only road that connects Florida's barrier island of Sanibel with the mainland as the major storm wreaked havoc on the Sunshine State.
Stunning photos show a massive section of the roughly three-mile Sanibel Causeway wiped out and collapsed into the waters below it.
The span, which is the only bridge to the island that is home to about 6,300, was destroyed by a powerful storm surge, according to the Tampa Bay Times, which reported that the collapsed portion is at the first section of the road, near the mainland.
Two cars tried to get to Sanibel Island at around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday but had to turn around once they saw the destruction, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
A group of young men who were in one of the cars were trying to reach their friend, the report said.
Ian officially made landfall over southwestern Florida as a ferocious Category 4 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon, bringing winds of 150 miles-per-hour along with dangerous storm surges and flooding.
The major storm, which left more than 2 million people without power, left a path of destruction across Florida as it trapped locals inside their flooded homes.
President Joe Biden on Thursday morning approved Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' request for a major disaster declaration in the state.
Meanwhile, officials are still assessing the damage from Hurricane Ian, which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said that he estimated fatalities to be in the "hundreds" during an interview Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America," though the official number of deaths is not immediately known.
