Devastation was the watchword in Florida on Thursday after Hurricane Ian left in its wake devastated cities and a potentially “substantial” death toll, and is now heading for the southeastern United States.
Downgraded to a tropical storm after its passage over land, Ian has strengthened again to the point of being reclassified as a hurricane by the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Ian was heading late Thursday to North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
As images of streets transformed into channels of murky water, boats thrown ashore like toys, and houses smashed, the latest death toll in Florida was at least 12.
“This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida’s history,” U.S. President Joe Biden said during a tour of the offices of the federal agency that fights natural disasters, Fema.
“The figures (…) are not yet clear but we are receiving initial reports of casualties that could be substantial,” he added, ensuring that he would go as soon as possible in the southern state, but also in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, an island recently hit by Hurricane Fiona.
At a press conference Thursday night, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he expects a number of deaths from the hurricane.
The elected official did not put forward a provisional figure, preferring to wait for the balance to be confirmed “in the coming days”.
“More than 700 confirmed rescues have occurred, and there will surely be many more as more data comes in,” the governor also said.
Night of anguish
An official in Charlotte County, in western Florida, confirmed to CNN the death of at least “eight or nine people,” without giving further details.
A spokesperson for Volusia County on the east coast announced that they had recorded “the first Hurricane Ian-related death,” a 72-year-old man who “went out to drain his pool during the storm.”
An official in Osceola County, in the east-central part of the state, told CNN that a resident of a nursing home had died. A Sarasota County sheriff’s spokeswoman also told the U.S. station that two people died in her county.
At the same time, the search continued for 18 passengers of a migrant boat that capsized Wednesday near the Keys archipelago, nine others having been rescued.
After a night of anguish, the residents began the inventory of fixtures on Thursday.
In the village of Iona, Ronnie Sutton, who has still not been able to return home, said he was convinced that the water had destroyed everything. “It’s terrible. I guess that’s the price you pay when you live at sea level. Sometimes it backfires,” he lamented.
In Fort Myers, the flooding submerged some boats, pushing others into the downtown streets.
“It was terrifying noises, with debris flying everywhere, doors in the air,” testified a resident who witnessed the destruction, Tom Johnson.
Without electricity
Ian made landfall Wednesday afternoon as a Category 4 hurricane (on a scale of 5) in southwest Florida, before continuing its passage through the state, bringing strong winds and torrential rains.
As of Thursday evening, more than 2.3 million homes or businesses remained without power, out of a total of 11 million, according to the specialized site PowerOutage. Punta Gorda, a small coastal town in the path of the hurricane, woke up without power.
Ian uprooted some trees and knocked down utility poles and signs. Its rains flooded the streets of the marina, where water was still up to the calves Thursday morning.
“It was relentless, blowing over our heads all the time. You could hear the metal banging against the building. It was dark. We didn’t know what was going on out there,” recounted resident Joe Ketcham.
Faced with the extent of the damage, Joe Biden had declared Thursday morning the state of major natural disaster, a decision that will allow additional federal funds to be released for the affected areas.
As the ocean surface warms, the frequency of the most intense hurricanes, with stronger winds and more precipitation, increases, but not the total number of hurricanes.
