Hurricane Ian advanced this Friday on the North American states of North and South Carolinawhere according to meteorologists it can cause serious storm surges, after devastating part of Florida in its path and leaving an as yet unknown number of fatalities.
After weakening upon making landfall in Florida, Ian regained strength and hurricane status as it re-emerged into the Atlantic and headed toward the coastal states of North and South Carolinaas indicated this Friday by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) of the United States.
“They wait torrential rains and flooding in the Carolinas and southwestern Virginia” indicated the NHC, referring to these states in the east of the country, according to the AFP agency.
One of the most powerful
Ian, one of the most powerful hurricanes that the United States has suffered, forced to rescue hundreds of people in Floridaaccording to Governor Ron DeSantis, for whom it is still too early to establish a balance of deaths.
“Safely we will have fatalities from this hurricane”DeSantis said Thursday, but preferred to wait for an official balance to be confirmed “in the next few days.”
US President Joe Biden argued that “This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida history”speaking during a visit to the offices of the federal agency that combats natural disasters, FEMA, in Washington.
The figures “are not yet clear, but we have received information that of substantial loss of life”added the president.
Biden later declared the state of emergency in South Carolina, according to a White House statement.
According to information from the AFP agency, the NHC issued a hurricane warning for the entire coast of South Carolina and for parts of Georgia and North Carolina.
begins to weaken
Ian will make landfall this Friday, the NHC predicts, and then “it will rapidly weaken as it enters the southeastern United States” between Friday night and Saturday.
In the town of Fort Myers, Florida, where Ian arrived as a category 4 hurricane (on a scale of five) rising waters submerged some boats in the harbor and pushed others into downtown streets.
DeSantis called the destruction wrought in this southwestern part of Florida something unprecedented in “500 years”.
“We have never seen a storm surge of this magnitude,” he said.
A US Coast Guard official said Thursday that helicopter crews they were rescuing people from the roofs of their flooded homes due to the passage of the hurricane.
Is it really necessary?#HurricaneIan pic.twitter.com/483TTiIlZJ
— Pʜᴏsɢʜᴇɴᴇ (@drown555) September 28, 2022
Meanwhile, the search continued. of 18 people disappeared on Wednesday after a migrant boat capsized near the Keys archipelago, at the southern tip of Florida. Four Cubans swam to shore in the Keys
More of 2 million homes or businesses remained without power in the state of Floridaas a result of the hurricane, according to the specialized site PowerOutage,
Given the magnitude of the damage, Biden declared state of major natural disaster in Floridaa decision that allows additional federal funds to be released for the affected regions.
In Cuba, the electricity was slowly coming back after the total blackout left by Hurricane Ian, which caused at least two deaths before heading towards the coast of the United States.
