Hurricane Ian was worse than advertised.  The category 4 storm hit Florida’s west coast Wednesday with 140-mph wind gusts and laid a trail of destruction that will take months to recover from. 

Now the tropical storm is moving toward northeastern Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, and areas in the path of Ian are bracing for life-threatening storm surges with hurricane conditions lingering through Friday. 

Catastrophic flooding is another primary concern, and it has been forecast for every area that the storm is entering. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described this storm as a “500-year flooding event” and has declared a state of emergency for the state; over 30,000 linemen are working around the clock trying to restore power to the millions of residents who have no electricity. Power has already been restored to over 500,000 customers, but many will experience long-term outages. 

Florida residents are in disbelief at the destruction caused in cities like Fort Myers, Clearwater, Naples, Tampa, and all the surrounding communities. 

Here’s more from DeSantis. 

“The impacts of this storm are historic, and the damage that has been done is historic.  We’ve never seen a flood event like this; we’ve never seen a storm surge of this magnitude.”

Comprehending the full scope of this disaster is going to take time. The death toll is only beginning to come into focus, and many people were in desperate need of rescue on Thursday. 

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marcelo told CNN there were at least five deaths in his county. 

As the storm has rampaged inland, it is producing tornadoes.  A resident near Delray Beach told USA Today what happened when a twister started destroying homes and tossing around vehicles. 

“I felt things blow past my head and face. When I opened the door, my apartment was destroyed.”

Hurricane Ian will be the fourth-strongest storm to hit land in Florida’s history. 

Add comment