U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Assesses Damage After Hurricane Ian

Newsy took a ride with the U.S. Army Corps  of Engineers, which has arrived to help with hurricane Ian recovery in Florida.  

"People lost a lot here — they lost their houses … so it’s been a rough one to see and to witness, and I feel for these people,“ said J.B. McLendon, an engineering tech for the Corps of Engineers.

Part of the mission for this crew, based out of Panama City, Florida, is to see what’s under the water.  

"After a storm like this  we have a lot of hazards in the navigation under the water, whether it be a sunken boat or a pylon or any kind of debris, so these barges and ships have a hard time coming through. We provide a 3D sonar image of the channel, the waterways, and determine if there’s any kind of hazard to the navigation or any kind of obstruction for these ships that come through,"said McLendon. 

At one now-impassible bridge that hurricane Ian damaged in Cape Coral, crews are trying to put the pieces back together again.

Though the recovery may take a while, there are signs of hope that everything will be OK.