Hurricane Ian, which this Wednesday (28) reached southwest Florida, in the United States, after leaving a trail of destruction in the Caribbean, has frightened a group not used to extreme weather events of this type: Brazilians, who total 400,000. in the southern American state, according to the Itamaraty.
One of them is Mayara Oliveira, 25, who lives in Tampa, near the region initially hit by the hurricane in the US. She came to pack personal belongings and fill the car with suitcases and even the TV to leave for Miami, where the forecast is for minor damage, but gave up when she discovered that the roads were jammed and that the journey that should have taken less than 4 hours would take 8.
“We were afraid of being surprised on the way. We never went through that”, says she, who has lived in the city for five months with her boyfriend and works as a delivery person.
After they decided to stay, special precautions had to be taken. “Our house doesn’t have a lot of security, so we put the support of the box bed covering the window, afraid of the wind breaking the glass and hurting us.”
In addition, as there are trees next to all the windows, the couple placed a mattress to sleep in the living room, further away from the branches. The house even has a room in the basement for protection in case of hurricanes, but Oliveira says he doesn’t want to use it, for fear of the place being flooded if there is any structural damage to the property, such as a burst pipe. Something that reassures her is that both the house and the car are insured.
We also had to stock the pantry. She says that she found food easily in the few establishments that were open, but it was difficult to find drinking water. “We came to Florida knowing that there would be greater risks of catastrophes here, but I never imagined going through a situation like this. We are afraid, we will not deny it”, she says.
Also in Tampa four years ago, João Gama, 22, says he has been through other hurricanes, but that they arrived in the city only as tropical storms. Knowing the risks, he decided to travel to Orlando — but regretted it when he discovered that the phenomenon could also wreak havoc on the city.
“We are all very scared. At any minute the power can go out and the cell towers can fall”, he says. “Maybe I’d be safer at home in Tampa, but for now we’re here, praying and hoping everyone is okay.”
Ian’s intensity reached 235 km/h, close to hitting Category 5, the strongest on the scale — only two Category 5 storms have battered the US in the last 30 years, both in Florida. The forecast is that the phenomenon will cause floods of more than 5 meters high, in addition to giant waves between the cities of Englewood and Bonita Beach.
Millions of residents are under warning or order to leave their homes in coastal regions, but Governor Ron DeSantis warned on Wednesday that it was too late for those left in Collier, Lee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties, predicted to be hit the hardest. of the storm. “Today is going to be a very, very unpleasant day,” DeSantis told reporters.
The hurricane has already left 1.1 million people without power in Florida, 30,000 of them in the Tampa area. This Wednesday alone, airlines canceled 1,712 flights to or from airports in Orlando, Miami, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, the main ones in the state. Considering the cancellations scheduled for this Thursday (29), more than 3,200 flights should be affected.
US President Joe Biden declared an emergency in the state and sent emergency resources. The White House also claims that it had 110,000 gallons of fuel, 3.7 million meals, 3.5 million liters of water and 300 ambulances available to help the victims.
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