The western coast of Florida was hit hard by Tropical Storm “Ian,” with some areas seeing floods of more than a several feets in depth. The governor of Florida has predicted that this storm would be among the state’s top five most destructive storms ever. Damage from Hurricane “Ian” included extensive flooding and storm surges along the west coast of Florida. Some of them reached heights of roughly 12 feet (3.5 m), making them “life-threatening,” as stated by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Images shared on social media showed flooding in the Fort Myers Beach, Cape Coral, and Naples areas that were several feets deep in places.
Although the storm had diminished in strength, it still sent devastating winds and rain over a corridor of land more than a 60 miles (100 km) wide. The core of the storm was around 55 miles (90 km) southeast of Orlando late at night, as reported by the National Hurricane Center. Rain was seen blowing across the streets, automobiles submerged to their roofs, and debris flying through the air as an outcome of the flooding. Water has flooded a hospital in Port Charlotte, Florida.
There are about 2.5 million homes without electricity
According to PowerOutage.us, over 2,500,000 homes have suffered a temporary loss of electricity. That’s equivalent to around 20% of homes in Florida where about 21 million people live. Lee County, where both Fort Myers and Cape Coral are located, reportedly has the highest power losses. 90% of the homes in the area are without electricity. The number of reported power outages in the United States is projected to keep rising.
It’s expected that the losses from to the Hurricane Ian would rise to above $67 billion. The storm is letting up over the rural areas. The area that was predicted to be hit by the Hurricane Ian has not seen a hurricane like this in almost 100 years.
Ian is one of the strongest hurricanes in Florida’s history
The National Hurricane Center has downgraded Ian to a Category 1 storm ,as of right now with maximum sustained winds of 93 miles (150 km) per hour. DeSantis maintains that “Ian” should be considered the fifth-largest hurricane in Florida history. Several organizations are now reporting that the Ian is one of the most powerful hurricanes on record for the state.
With maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 kph), Hurricane Ian was on the verge of being classified as a Category 5 storm as it made its way across the Gulf of Mexico into Florida. Near Cape Coral, “Ian” was made ashore with winds of Category 4. It is now still above Florida, around 68 miles (110 km) south of Orlando, where analysts say the storm is expected to make landfall.
Risk is still present
About 2.5 million people in the area are under mandatory evacuation orders. Even after the storm passes, hazards such as fallen trees and downed power lines will remain. The governor of Florida cautioned that irresponsible use of generators might risk people’s lives since power lines could fall and flooding could persist. Ron DeSantis said that in past hurricanes, the number of fatalities in the days after the hurricane was typically 10 times higher than the number of deaths that occurred during the storm itself.
Salvage operations to start as soon as the weather allows
Today, “Ian” is expected to make landfall on the east coast of Florida, and meteorologists have cautioned that Ian may still be a dangerous hurricane. Hundreds of Floridians who had not evacuated their houses ahead of the storm’s arrival had to wait for help as their calls to emergency services initially went unanswered.
Once the weather improved, Gov. DeSantis indicated that the recovery and restoration efforts would begin. DeSantis tweeted that 7,000 National Guard troops and 179 aircraft might be sent into action. In addition, the governor said that there were more than 40,000 utility technicians on call to fix electrical lines.
The governor mentioned the need to assist thousands of people to rebuild in his remarks.
Heavy raining for a whole day
The director of the National Hurricane Center, Ken Graham, said that it would take Hurricane Ian at least 24 hours to move out of Florida once it made landfall.
They predict that Ian will keep moving throughout Florida for a little longer. Preparations were being made for the storm’s arrival in the states of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.
Before Hurricane Ian made landfall, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned his state’s residents to brace for catastrophic destruction. The governor has previously warned about the approaching “nasty days.”
Ian had already made landfall in Cuba
The hurricane “Ian” hit Cuba on Tuesday as a Category 3 storm. For a short time, all eleven million or so of the state’s residents were without electricity. The government reports that two people lost their lives when their houses collapsed.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, a boat carrying Cuban migrants sunk near Florida’s coast. The USCG first tweeted that it was searching for the 23 people. During the rescue operation, three people were saved. Before the storm, four migrants from the boat made it to a U.S. island off the coast of Key West by swimming.
