As Florida wakes up this Friday to apocalyptic damage from coast to coast – with search engines still going door-to-door and millions without power – the deadly hurricane ian has begun to hit South Carolina, where an expected arrival this afternoon threatens more lethal flooding and could be powerful enough to alter the coastal landscape.
After killing at least 19 people, Ian It strengthened to a Category 1 storm in the Atlantic and was heading toward South Carolina with 85 mph winds as of 8 am ET on Friday, with its center predicted to move ashore in the afternoon between Charleston and Myrtle. Beach, meteorologists said.
Tropical storm-force winds — from 62 to 117 km/h — were already hitting much of the coast of the Carolinas by 8 am, and life-threatening storm and hurricane conditions were expected within hours, the National Hurricane Center said. .
“This is a dangerous storm that will bring strong winds and lots of water,” South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster tweeted. “Be smart, make good decisions, check on your loved ones and stay safe.”
Florida, meanwhile, is assessing the dizzying destruction Ian caused across much of the peninsula on Wednesday and Thursday after it made landfall on the southwest coast as a Category 4 storm.
Coastal homes were washed out to sea, buildings were destroyed across the state, and floodwaters ruined homes and businesses and trapped residents, even inland in places like the Orlando area.
Hundreds of rescues have been carried out by land, air and sea, with residents trapped in homes or trapped on rooftops, and search teams are still conducting wellness checks, especially in the areas of Fort Myers and Naples where feet of storms have swamped. streets and houses.
And now, the aftermath of the storm poses new and deadly dangers of its own.
Some stagnant water is electrified, officials warned, while maneuvering through buildings and streets littered with debris — many without working traffic lights — risks injury.
Lack of air conditioning can lead to heat illness, and improper use of the generator can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.
In North Port, between Fort Myers and Sarasota, Rosanna Walker was Thursday at the flood-damaged home where she weathered the storm. Part of its drywall ceiling was hanging down. “And all of a sudden, water was coming in through the doors — the top, the bottom, the windows here,” she told CNN’s John Berman.
“It’s all in my closets; I have to empty my lockers. Everything was ruined.”
What do you need to know
Dozens of reported deaths: At least 19 storm-related deaths have been reported so far in Florida, though that number is likely to rise. Most of the deaths are in Lee and Charlotte counties, which have been hit hard.
More than 2 million outages: millions of Floridians who stood in Ian’s path are still in the dark as of early Friday, according to PowerOutage.us. Most counties with the highest percentage of powerless residents are in the southwest, including Lee, Charlotte, DeSoto and Hardee.
Historic floods in some areas: Record floods were recorded in central and northern Florida, including at least three rivers that reached all-time flood records. Authorities in Orlando warned residents of dangerous flooding, which exceeded 30 centimeters in some areas.
Hundreds of rescues and thousands of evacuations: more than 700 rescues have taken place across Florida so far, the governor said Thursday, and thousands of evacuees have been reported. In Lee County, a hospital system had to evacuate more than 1,000 patients after the water supply was cut, while other widespread evacuations were reported in prisons and nursing homes.
Coastal islands completely isolated from the mainland: Sanibel and Captiva Islands in southwest Florida are cut off from the mainland after several parts of a critical bridge were ripped off. At least two people died in the storm on Sanibel, and the bridge may need to be completely rebuilt, local officials said. Chip Farrar, a resident of the tiny island of Matlacha, told CNN that 15 meters of the road essential to reach the mainland bridge was destroyed and a second nearby bridge also collapsed.
Storm impacts today: A hurricane watch was issued from the Savannah River at the Georgia-South Carolina state border to Cape Fear, North Carolina. Considerable flooding is possible due to seawater and rain, especially on parts of the South Carolina coast where storm surges of up to 7 feet and 4 to 12 inches of rain can hit, meteorologists say.
As Hurricane Ian moved away from Florida, the governors of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia declared emergencies.
McMaster of South Carolina implored residents not to underestimate the storm’s danger and urged them to closely follow storm warnings to prepare for the impact on Friday.
And when all is said and done, Ian’s storm system will likely have left lasting changes in its wake.
Coastlines along Georgia and South Carolina could undergo significant alterations because powerful waves and storm surges brought by Ian can inundate coastal dunes, according to the US Geological Survey.
In addition to flooding communities behind the dunes, the storm could push sand back and deposit it inland, which could “reduce the height of protective sand dunes, alter beach profiles and leave areas behind the dunes more vulnerable to future storms,” the agency said.
View images of Hurricane Ian
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
