Hurricane Ian 1 month later: Images show destruction left in hardest-hit regions

Parts of Southwest Florida that were left unrecognizable in the wake of Hurricane Ian are still cleaning up the remnants of the widespread destruction one month after the monster storm made land.

Hurricane Ian reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble in places like Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island after it ripped through Southwest Florida with Category 4 winds and menacing storm surge on Sept. 28.

So far, cleanup and recovery has been a slow and painstaking process, Holly Smith, mayor of Sanibel Island, told ABC News.

Recent images out of the regions hardest hit by the monster storm show the magnitude of work that remains to pave the way for rebuilding.