Some US media reported an even heavier death toll, with CNN reporting 45 dead.
Storm Ian lashed South Carolina with strong winds and heavy rains yesterday, Friday, after causing extensive damage to large areas of Florida and dozens of casualties.
Authorities in this southeastern US state last night confirmed a new death toll of 23, most of them elderly people who died of drowning.
Some US media reported an even heavier death toll, with CNN reporting 45 dead.
After wreaking havoc in Florida, Storm Ian headed toward South Carolina, making landfall in Georgetown in the early afternoon as a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of up to 90 mph (140 km/h), according to the National Hurricane Center (NHS). , which is headquartered in Miami.
Images of chaos in Florida from Hurricane Ian!!https://t.co/42HoDoh4lv#Florida #HurricaneIan #Ian #Hurricane pic.twitter.com/LOeA9LVkre
— Meteo24news.gr (@Meteonews_gr) September 29, 2022
Although it later weakened to a tropical storm (winds of up to 110 km/h), the torrential rains caused flash flooding in that state and North Carolina, where some areas received up to 20 centimeters of rain.
President Joe Biden urged residents to heed local authorities’ calls for caution. In South Carolina in particular, authorities urged the population not to drive on flooded roads.
Watch as the US Coast Guard airlifted a couple and their cats trapped by floodwaters in Sanibel, Florida, in the wake of Hurricane Ian https://t.co/OHspxvxjJW pic.twitter.com/vCKhqP0xtC
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 1, 2022
“It is a dangerous storm that will bring strong winds and a lot of water, but the most dangerous thing will be human error. Stay smart, make good decisions, reach out to loved ones and stay safe,” Gov. Henry McMaster tweeted.
Storm Ian is expected to “continue to weaken overnight and dissipate over western North Carolina or Virginia late tomorrow,” Saturday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
About 575,000 homes and businesses were already without power Friday night in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, according to the PowerOutage website.
Damage of ‘historic proportions’ in Florida
In Florida, in addition to the heavy death toll, property damage is of “historic proportions” as water levels reached an unprecedented level, according to Gov. Ron Desandes.
Roads and houses were flooded and ships anchored in marinas were washed ashore by the storm. Yesterday, Friday, in Kissimmee, not far from Orlando, authorities were crossing flooded zones in boats to help residents trapped in their homes.
In this state “we are just beginning to see the extent of the devastation,” which “is likely to be among the worst” in the history of the United States, Joe Biden said in a speech.
Help is on the way.
A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter departed the @LANationalGuard Aviation Facility in Hammond, La., to assist with emergency operations in Florida for #HurricaneIan. pic.twitter.com/efzH0a6fRq
— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) September 30, 2022
“It will take months, years to rebuild,” he added.
As of Friday night, more than 1.4 million customers remained without power two days after Ian passed, according to PowerOutage.
According to early estimates, the passage of Hurricane Ian may cost tens of billions of dollars to insurance companies and will weigh on American growth mainly due to flight cancellations and damage to agricultural production.
At the same time, the search continues to find 17 passengers of a boat with migrants that sank on Wednesday near the Keys archipelago.
According to a first rapid study by US scientists released yesterday, Friday, the rainfall associated with Hurricane Ian was increased by at least 10% due to climate change.
“Climate change didn’t cause the cyclone, but it made it wetter,” explained one of the scientists involved in this study, Michael Wehner of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which is part of the US federal Department of Energy.
Before Florida, Ian had hit Cuba, causing three deaths and significant damage there and leaving many homes without power.
RES-EMP
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