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Lee County includes the hard-hit cities of Fort Myers and Cape Coral. Many houses in the area are barely above sea level, especially in Cape Coral, where homes are arranged along a network of canals. In a release tweeted Thursday morning, officials say airport maintenance and operations staff inspected the facilities Thursday morning and did not discover any serious damage as a result of the storm. State officials are urging residents in low-lying areas prone to flooding, particularly along the coast, to have a plan to evacuate to higher ground if their homes become unsafe. Ketchum, NextEra’s CEO, said overhead power lines that deliver electricity to people’s homes — known as distribution lines — are the most vulnerable parts of the system. Ian made landfall more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Tampa and St. Petersburg, sparing the densely populated Tampa Bay area from its first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.
More than 3,000 nursing home residents have been evacuated in Florida
911 and emergency services were also halted on Wednesday, with officials saying winds topping 45 mph made it too dangerous for responders' vehicles to travel. • Heavy rainfall will continue to spread across the county and will intensify, resulting potentially lifethreatening flooding. The storm, which was a Category 4 hurricane as of Wednesday afternoon, would only have a brief, small impact on production, the president suggested.
After slamming Florida, Hurricane Ian barrels into South Carolina
She had been trying to go to work, he said, and hadn't realized the water was so deep until it was too late. WESH TV’s Tony Atkins was covering the storm’s impact on Orange County when he saw the woman in distress. In a dramatic scene captured on video, he then carried her on his back until they reached higher ground. "We have 3.7 million meals and 3.5 million liters of water staged in Alabama," Criswell said.
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“We are beginning to get a sense that our community has been, in some respects, decimated,” Roger Desjarlais, the county manager, said during an evening news briefing on Wednesday. Forecasters cautioned that the winds remain dangerous and that the storm brings other threats with it. As much as 12 to 18 inches of rain could fall across central and northeast Florida, with the possibility of 30 inches in some spots.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is ready to help with rescue and recovery as soon as it's safe to move into areas hit by Hurricane Ian, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Wednesday evening. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed an emergency declaration on Wednesday to activate the state's emergency preparations plan (Georgia's governor did so earlier in the week as well). ET advisory, National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning for all of South Carolina's coast, meaning that "hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area." Mary Mayhew, the president of the Florida Hospital Association, told the AP that other hospitals could feel the strain of the evacuations. She told MSNBC'sMorning Joe on Thursday that the state is in the process of determining whether water can be restored or if they'll have to evacuate those hospitals. He urged Floridians to obey warnings and directions from emergency officials.
See Hurricane Ian's damage across Florida in photos, videos and maps - The Washington Post
See Hurricane Ian's damage across Florida in photos, videos and maps.
Posted: Fri, 30 Sep 2022 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Tampa, Fort Myers and Sarasota — all among the state's fastest-growing metropolitan areas — are within the range of predicted paths, the NHC said. Ian may bring a "life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding in the Florida peninsula," the hurricane center said in its 5 a.m. "We lose so many people after a storm because they get out and wander about, they drive into flooded roads, power lines might be down," he added. "I know you want to see what happened, I know you want to see if your house, your neighborhood is okay, but please stay inside until conditions allow you to safely move about."
Florida counties are 'basically off the grid,' Gov. DeSantis says
He stressed that a storm of this magnitude can not only knock down power lines, which can be repaired, but also uproot infrastructure in a way that requires restoration. Authorities have warned that Hurricane Ian will bring significant power outages to Florida. Earlier on Thursday, the administration said FEMA had pre-staged 110,000 gallons of fuel and 18,000 pounds of propane across the impacted region and readied generators that could be used to help power critical infrastructure. Tampa Police Chief Mary O’Connor urged people not to drive through flooded streets, saying that most vehicles will be flooded by as little as 6 inches of standing water. Marstiller said officials were also working to ensure that health care facilities maintained appropriate temperatures and safe conditions for patients and residents throughout Hurricane Ian. The Coast Guard later tweeted that crews had rescued three people at sea about 2 miles south of the Florida Keys.
Ian’s strength at landfall tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane when measured by wind speed to strike the U.S. Among the other storms was Hurricane Charley, which hit nearly the same spot on Florida’s coast in August 2004, killing 10 people and inflicting $14 billion in damage. Using remote sensing technology, Florida Atlantic University researchers have developed a novel technique that provides rapid, high-resolution assessments of detailed damage after a hurricane. Using aerial imagery data and LiDAR, they identified the hardest-hit areas of Southwest Florida's Estero Island and estimated the extent of structural damage.
Hours after weakening to a tropical storm while crossing the Florida peninsula, Ian regained hurricane strength Thursday evening over the Atlantic. The National Hurricane Center predicted it would hit South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane Friday, with winds picking up to 80 mph (129 kph) near midnight Thursday. Ian is forecast to bring hurricane-force winds to a wide swath of Florida’s west coast and tropical storm conditions to nearly the entire length of the state. Hurricane warnings were extended to parts of Florida’s east coast due to Ian’s strength. Gov. Roy Cooper is urging North Carolinians to be safe and cautious during heavy rainfall, possible flooding and power outages as Hurricane Ian bears down on the state. In an update, the National Hurricane Center says sustained winds on Sanibel have reached 71 mph (just shy of hurricane strength) and higher gusts.
There has also been wind and surge damage reported up the coast in Sarasota and as far north as St. Petersburg. The effects of a hurricane or tropical storm can be felt throughout South Carolina and right now, that’s what it’s forecast to be,” said Kim Stenson, director of South Carolina’s emergency management division. After leaving Florida as a tropical storm Thursday and entering the Atlantic Ocean north of Cape Canaveral, Ian spun up into a hurricane again with winds of 75 mph (120 kph).
Miami-Dade County, on Florida’s southeastern coast, also shut its public schools. Lee Country Emergency Management said in a statementthat residents should stay inside until the storm passes and first responders can make sure its safe to venture outside. Emergency management services in Lee County, where Fort Myers is located, has ordered residents to shelter in place as Hurricane Ian makes landfall in southwest Florida. Crews will go out to assess the damage, and go looking for people who may be in harm's way, as as the storm passes and it's safe to do so, DeSantis added.
Though expected to weaken to a tropical storm as it marches inland at about 9 mph (14 kph), Ian’s hurricane force winds were likely to be felt well into central Florida. In the hours since landfall, top sustained winds had gradually dropped to 90 mph (150 kph), making it a Category 1 hurricane crossing the peninsula. Still, storm surges as high as 6 feet (2 meters) were expected on the opposite side of the state, in northeast Florida. At least 19 people have died in the US due to the storm, which made landfall in southwestern Florida as a Category 4 hurricane Wednesday afternoon. Weakening to a tropical storm as it crossed the Florida peninsula, Ian has since intensified into a Category 1 storm packing nearly 85 mph sustained winds after reaching open waters.
The storm left many areas of Charleston’s downtown peninsula underwater. It also washed way parts of four piers along the coast, including at Myrtle Beach. Officials were urging residents in central and northeastern Florida to prepare to either evacuate or take shelter in response to the approaching storm.
Closer to Charlotte, Channel 9′s Ken Lemon was in northwest Charlotte where residents are also concerned about potential flooding. While all of the attention is focused on the coast, we should remember this storm is big and powerful and expected to retain its hurricane strength far inland. The eye of the storm is expected to come ashore in the 2 to 3 p.m ET timeframe – somewhere in Charlotte or Lee counties. Municipal officials up and down the coast were asking residents to shelter in place, and city services were already suspended in some areas. A slower storm means people will feel the effects of the storm longer. Orlando closed city hall, suspended garbage pick-up and closed public schools and libraries.
“for life-saving purposes,” saying violators may face second-degree misdemeanor charges. The storm previously tore into Cuba, killing two people and bringing down the country’s electrical grid. A spokesperson for Duke Energy said the utility company will have extra crews on call. There are also workers in the Midwest ready to deploy to the Carolinas. McMaster also said the state is not experiencing any impact to its fuel supply due to the storm.
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