This Preliminary Virtual Reconnaissance Report (PVRR) is the primary product of the StEER Level 1 response to Hurricane Ian, intended to: provide an overview of Hurricane Ian, particularly relating to wind and storm surge hazards and their impact on the built environment, establish the regulatory environment and construction practices in the affected area, synthesize preliminary reports of damage to buildings and other infrastructure, and provide recommendations which include: Performance of Elevated Buildings Subjected to Coastal Hazards Characterization and Prediction of Coastal Hazards Performance of Nature-Based Protective Systems Performance of Infrastructure Under Coastal Hazards Performance of Power Infrastructure Under Combined Hazards Serving as a synthesis document, the PVRR is accompanied by a Media Repository providing a rich collection of georeferenced visual evidence cataloged by infrastructure class. Interested readers may also consult the accompanying Outage/Restoration Database for a chronology of disruption/outage/restoration data for power, telecommunications, and transportation networks. As the product of entirely virtual reconnaissance, the PVRR is not based upon detailed field investigations by StEER.

Hurricane Ian made landfall near Punta Gorda, FL as a Category 4 hurricane on September 28, 2022, subjecting the Florida west coast to storm surge as high as 13 ft (relative to the mean high water datum) and peak wind gusts of at least 130 mph. The results were catastrophic for a region that had last faced a direct hit from a major hurricane in 2004 (Hurricane Charley). Early estimates indicate economic losses may be as high as $113 billion, and, more tragically, at least 148 fatalities are attributed to Hurricane Ian. This Early Access Reconnaissance Report (EARR) is StEER’s second product from this event and provides an (i) overview of Hurricane Ian, (ii) StEER’s Level 2 response data collection methodology and chronology, (iii) preliminary findings based on the observations generated by its first Field Assessment Structural Team (FAST-1), and (iv) recommendations for continued study of this event by StEER and the wider natural hazard engineering community. Note that all observations and findings provided in this EARR should be considered preliminary and are based on the limited scope of the FAST-1.

FAST-1 was composed of three sub-teams - two equipped with surface-level panoramic imaging technologies and a third performing windshield surveys using primarily hand-held GPS-enabled cameras. FAST-1 was in the field September 29th, the day following landfall, and continued intermittent data collection until October 22nd, as access allowed, eventually in parallel with StEER’s Level 3 response. Ultimately, FAST-1 sampled heavily throughout Ft. Myers Beach, Sanibel Island, and San Carlos Island, in addition to capturing the performance of infrastructure within representative clusters and along major highways in Ft. Myers, Cape Coral, Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, Pine Island, Boca Grande, and more. This project encompasses the products of StEER's response to this event: Preliminary Virtual Reconnaissance Report (PVRR), Early Access Reconnaissance Report (EARR). This Dataset is a preliminary release and a more complete dataset will be released at a later date.