Hurricane Ian decimates Florida and picks up speed in the Atlantic: According to authorities, Hurricane Ian caused “historic” destruction in Florida. He left an undetermined number of dead in its aftermath as it regrouped in the Atlantic on a course toward the Carolinas.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the hurricane, one of the most violent ever to strike the United States. It left hundreds of people in need of rescue.
But cautioned that it was still too early to determine how many had perished.
At a news conference on Thursday night, he said, “We anticipate having fatalities from this storm.”
Following a meeting at the disaster management headquarters of FEMA in Washington. President Joe Biden said, “This might be the worst storm in Florida history.”
We are hearing stories of what may be a significant loss of life. But the statistics “are still unclear,” he said.
DeSantis said specific data on casualty totals might anticipate “in the coming days.”
Ian, an intense Category 4 hurricane that made landfall near Fort Myers on Wednesday, bore the brunt of the storm, turning streets into rivers and flooding homes.
Numerous moored boats in the marina were sunk, while others thrown into the city’s streets.
The gusting winds of up to 150 miles per hour (240 kilometers per hour) caused trees to fall.
DeSantis called the damage in the southwest of the state a “500-year flood event” earlier on Thursday.
“We have never seen a storm surge of this size,” he added.
Tom Johnson, 54, of Fort Myers, Florida, had a front-row view of the carnage from his apartment on the second floor of a two-story harborside building. He described it as “horrifying.”
Johnson told AFP, “I was scared because I’d never experienced that” horrible sounds, doors blowing off, debris flying everywhere.
His property was intact, but 42-year-old Janelle Thil’s ground-floor unit began leaking.
“They took my dogs, so I leaped out the window and dove into the water,” Thil recounted.
Thil said she had to wait five minutes for the waters to recede after the storm.
She said, “I adored my house.” But what counts is that I’m still alive.
DeSantis said that authorities were “trying to troubleshoot” a water main break in the neighborhood.
According to a US Coast Guard spokesman, helicopter teams are removing individuals from the roofs of residences under water from floods.
The Coast Guard said that nine migrants had rescued from a sinking boat during the storm on Wednesday, leaving 18 people unaccounted for. Four of them, who swam to shore in the Florida Keys, were Cubans.
Ian downgraded to a tropical storm overnight. Still, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that it strengthened back to a Category 1 hurricane on Thursday afternoon. It prompting the issuance of a hurricane warning for the entire South Carolina coast and a portion of the North Carolina coast.
Florida has deemed a “major catastrophe” by Biden, opening up government assistance for hurricane aid.
He tweeted, “We’re continuing to take rapid action to support the families of Florida.” We will be there for the people of Florida at every stage of the process. I want them to know.
After the hurricane destroyed electricity, much of Florida’s southwest coast plunge into darkness.
By late Thursday, 2.3 million homes and businesses in the so-called Sunshine State were still without electricity, according to the tracking website poweroutage.us.
Due to the storm’s devastation to the causeways connecting the two tourist-friendly barrier islands near Fort Myers, Pine Island, and Sanibel Island. They were effectively shut off from the mainland.
According to DeSantis, Sanibel Island was hit by a “biblical storm surge,” and rescuers used boats and helicopters to evacuate residents.
Before Ian arrived, mandatory evacuation orders had issued for numerous Florida regions, and many shelters had prepared.
All commercial aircraft grounded at airports, while cruise liner operators postponed or canceled itineraries.
After taking down Cuba’s electrical network on Tuesday, Ian devastated Florida before engulfing the whole island in darkness.
State media in the nation of more than 11 million stated that there were at least two fatalities in the province of Pinar del Rio.
Globally, more severe weather occurrences have increased due to human activity’s life-threatening climate change.