Hurricane Ian is moving toward other states in the southeastern United States, including North Carolina and South Carolina, on Friday after devastating Florida, US officials said.
Ian, after being downgraded to a tropical storm, strengthened again and was again classified as a hurricane by the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
The NHC has placed a hurricane watch for the entire South Carolina coast, as well as parts of Georgia and North Carolina.
Ian is expected to “rapidly weaken” when he returns to land today and Saturday. [provavelmene na Carolina do Sul]according to the agency.
Hundreds of people are still waiting to be rescued in Florida, with images of streets turned into channels of muddy water and destroyed houses multiplying.
“This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida history,” US President Joe Biden said during a visit to the offices of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“The numbers (…) are not yet clear, but we are receiving initial reports of human losses that could be substantial,” added Biden, who assured that he intends to travel to Florida as soon as possible, but also to go to territory from North. from Puerto Rico, an island recently hit by Hurricane Fiona.
The president also declared a state of emergency in South Carolina and sent federal reinforcements to the state, according to a statement.
At a news conference Thursday night, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he expected multiple deaths from Hurricane Ian.
The governor did not provide a provisional death toll and preferred to wait for confirmation of the results “in the coming days.”
“There have been over 700 confirmed rescues and there will certainly be many more as more data comes in,” DeSantis said.
In Fort Myers, floodwaters submerged some boats and pushed others onto downtown streets.
“There were scary noises, debris flying everywhere, doors in the air,” said resident Tom Johnson, who witnessed the destruction.
At the same time, searches continue to find 18 migrants who were in a boat that capsized Wednesday near the Cayos archipelago, where nine others were rescued. Among the survivors are four Cubans who managed to swim to the beach.
Ian made landfall Wednesday afternoon as a Category 4 hurricane. [numa escala de 5] in southwestern Florida before continuing to wander across the state, bringing high winds and torrential rain.
Today, 2.1 million homes or businesses remain without electricity, according to the specialized portal PowerOutage.
Given the magnitude of the damage, Joe Biden declared a state of natural disaster this Thursday morning, a decision that allowed additional federal funds to be released to the affected regions.
Before Florida, Hurricane Ian had hit Cuba, killing three people, causing extensive damage and leaving many homes without power. Dozens of people took to the streets of the Havana neighborhood of Cerro on Thursday night to protest the lack of lighting.
Source: TSF
