People observe waves splashing at the seafront as the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Havana, Cuba, September 28. Cuba remained in the dark early Wednesday after Hurricane Ian knocked out its power grid. (Reuters)Hurricane Ian Today, Hurricane Ian in Florida Live Updates: Rescue crews waded through flooded streets and used boats Thursday in a scramble to save people trapped after Hurricane Ian destroyed a cross-section of Florida and brought torrential rains that continued to fall.
From trees getting ripped out of the ground to signs being ripped apart, luxury cars floating out of the garage, traffic lights crashing onto roadways and some buildings simply being destroyed, the impact was everywhere and almost nothing was spared. The only difference between one place and the next was the severity of the problems. Along US 41, the main road in the region, countless signs outside businesses are damaged, torn or just gone. The steel posts holding street signs in the ground are bent backward, no match for Ian’s wind and force. The doors to storage-unit garages were twisted, sending the belongings inside some of the spaces flying into the air. The majority of traffic lights are out, wires dangling to the road below in some cases.
Hurricane Ian barrels toward Florida after ripping through Cuba pic.twitter.com/gwpSPXDJ9d
— Insider News (@InsiderNews) September 28, 2022
US Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday said images of hurricane Ian are devastating and that the government is fully committed to offering federal support. Harris, who is currently in South Korea for planned visit, also added that people should follow any evacuation orders.
Among the casualties of Hurricane Ian in Florida was a newly purchased McLaren P1, reported local media. The vehicle, which costs over Rs. 10 crore in India, reportedly ended up going through the garage and out on the street.
Here are a few images.
Climate change added at least 10% more rain to Hurricane Ian, a study prepared immediately after the storm shows.
Thursday’s research, which is not peer-reviewed, compared peak rainfall rates during the real storm to about 20 different computer scenarios of a model with Hurricane Ian’s characteristics slamming into the Sunshine State in a world with no human-caused climate change.
“The real storm was 10% wetter than the storm that might have been,’’ said Lawrence Berkeley National Lab climate scientist Michael Wehner, study co-author.
New data from NASA reveals how warm ocean waters in the Gulf of Mexico fueled Hurricane Ian to become one of the most powerful storms to strike the United States in the past decade.
Sea surface temperatures were especially warm off Florida’s southwest coast, allowing the storm to pick up energy just before crashing into the state north of Fort Myers.
The storm brought fierce winds, unrelenting rains and catastrophic flooding to southwest Florida. As it moved inland, it lost power and was downgraded to a tropical storm, but grew into a hurricane again as it traveled across the warm Atlantic toward South Carolina.
Rescue crews piloted boats and waded through inundated streets Thursday to save thousands of Floridians trapped amid flooded homes and shattered buildings left by Hurricane Ian, which crossed into the Atlantic Ocean and churned toward South Carolina.
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. (Read more)
Hurricane Ian is likely to have worsened what was already expected to be the smallest U.S. orange crop in 55 years after it blasted through a large fruit producing area when it passed through Florida this week, flooding farms and causing oranges to drop from trees.
Precise information on losses for citrus producers in top grower Florida will take days to be released, analysts said, as people in the area deal with power outages and flooding makes it difficult to check on farms. Orange juice futures jumped in the last three sessions.
Florida orange production was already expected to be poor, as planted areas have been falling yearly due to real estate expansion and the spread of the greening fungus disease. According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), US orange production was estimated to fall 13% to the lowest in over 55 years at 3.5 million tons before the storm. (Reuters)
Tampa, one of the major Florida airports temporarily closed by Hurricane Ian, will reopen Friday at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) as it did not suffer any serious damage, the airport said.
Airlines canceled 2,000 U.S. flights Thursday and nearly 2,200 Wednesday and have canceled 1,042 flights for Friday, according to Flightaware.
Orlando Airport said it expects to reopen at some point Friday but 'a damage assessment is taking place' and all roads leading to the airport remain closed due to flooding. (Reuters)
Rescue crews waded through flooded streets and used boats Thursday in a scramble to save people trapped after Hurricane Ian destroyed a cross-section of Florida and brought torrential rains that continued to fall.
The destruction began to come into focus a day after Ian made landfall in Florida as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit to the U.S. The storm flooded homes on both of the state's coasts, cut off the only bridge to a barrier island, destroyed a historic waterfront pier and knocked out electricity to 2.5 million Florida homes and businesses.
At least one man was confirmed dead.“We’ve never seen storm surge of this magnitude,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told a news conference. “The amount of water that’s been rising, and will likely continue to rise today even as the storm is passing, is basically a 500-year flooding event.” (AP)
Hundreds of hospital patients were being evacuated from facilities across the Fort Myer's region Thursday after damage from Hurricane Ian cut off water supplies. One area hospital began assessing the full damage from ferocious winds that tore away parts of its roof and swamped its emergency room.
Other health care systems in Ian's path, from the state's Gulf coast to the Atlantic, were also moving patients because of flood waters. Even as the problem was too much water in much of the state, at least nine hospitals in southwest Florida had the opposite problem.
“We have one large health system in southwest Florida that is without water in all of their facilities. And so they are fast approaching a point where they will not be able to safely take care of their patients. So that is an urgent focus to get those patients transferred,” said Mary Mayhew, the president of the Florida Hospital Association.
Mayhew said more 1,200 patients were being evacuated. (AP)
More from World
Ian marched across central Florida on Thursday as a tropical storm after battering the state’s southwest coast, dropping heavy rains that caused flooding and led to inland rescues and evacuations.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in a tweet that “water is at least waist deep” in Orlavista, near Orlando. The agency’s emergency response crews assisted with rescues.
Orange County Fire Rescue tweeted video of floodwaters, rescues and evacuations.On the southwest coast, crews worked to clear roads in the Fort Myers area, and police reminded residents trying to return to their homes that a curfew is in place. (AP)
Rain and overflow from rivers is causing severe flooding near parts of Florida's Atlantic coast as storm Ian makes its way back out to sea, officials said Thursday.
The Daytona Beach region is experiencing “historic flooding" that includes water in people’s homes, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said at a news conference. He implored people to stay off the roads, and the county has imposed a curfew until 7 am Friday.
“This is unprecedented for Volusia County,” said local emergency management official Jim Judge.Farther inland, residents of a nursing home were taken to ambulances and buses Thursday morning in an Orlando neighborhood that doesn’t typically flood. Paramedics rolled Avante Orlando residents out on stretchers and wheelchairs. At a neighboring apartment complex, cars were submerged in the parking lot. (AP)
Rescue workers and residents of Florida's Gulf Coast searched for missing people and picked up the pieces from wrecked homes on Thursday after Hurricane Ian tore through the area with howling winds, torrential rains and raging surf.
The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm on Thursday morning as it weakened over land. Ian blasted ashore at the barrier island of Cayo Costa on Wednesday afternoon as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour (241 kph).
An unspecified number of people were stranded after choosing to ride it out at home rather than heed evacuation orders, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said. In the early morning hours after it passed, residents in hard-hit areas hunted for family and friends as trees, debris and power lines covered roads and standing water washed over the ground. The search was made more difficult as cell phone services were often cut. (Reuters)
Hurricane Ian left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2.5 million people before aiming for the Atlantic Coast on Thursday.
One of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the United States churned across the Florida peninsula, threatening catastrophic flooding inland. Ian's tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 415 miles (665 km), and nearly the entire state was getting drenched. The National Hurricane Center said Ian became a tropical storm over land early Thursday and was expected to regain near-hurricane strength after emerging over Atlantic waters near the Kennedy Space Center later in the day.
Flooding rains continued across the state, and a stretch of the Gulf Coast remained inundated by ocean water, pushed ashore by the massive storm. (AP)
US Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday said images of hurricane Ian are devastating and that the government is fully committed to offering federal support.
Harris, who is currently in South Korea for planned visit, also added that people should follow any evacuation orders. (Reuters)
Ian has weakened into a tropical storm but is still expected to produce strong winds, heavy rains, and storm surge across portions of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Thursday.
The storm, packing maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph), was now about 35 miles (55 km) southwest of Cape Canaveral, the Miami-based forecaster said. (Reuters)
Ian dropped in strength by late Wednesday to Category 1 with 144 kph winds as it moved overland. Still, storm surges as high as 2 m were expected on the opposite side of the state, in northeast Florida, on Thursday.
The storm was about 90 km southwest of Orlando with maximum sustained winds of 120 kph at 2 am (11.30 am IST) Thursday, the Miami-based hurricane center said.
A hurricane warning remained in effect north of Bonita Beach, about 50 km south of Fort Myers, to Anclote River including Tampa Bay and from Sebastian Inlet to the Flagler/Volusia county line. (AP)
As the US and the state begin shifting to storm response and then recovery, here are some of the threats to monitor.
Wall of water: Hurricanes push water in front of them as they move over the ocean. This is known as “storm surge,” which can cause significant coastal destruction. Low-lying geography and the shallow continental shelf in parts of western Florida make it particularly vulnerable.
The sunshine state could go dark for days: Category 4 storms wreak such damage on power grids — such as snapping poles — that the National Hurricane Center says blackouts can last weeks or even months. Florida Power & Light, the state’s biggest electric utility, told customers to brace for “widespread outages” from Ian and cautioned they could linger for days.
Out of gas: Many Florida fuel terminals are shut, while high winds and flooding make truck deliveries impossible in many areas. Fuel distributors in the state are warning of lengthy wait times to resupply businesses and homes with diesel for generators.
Breakfast getting more expensive: Orange juice futures soared as Ian neared the Florida shore. And if crop damage of Florida’s famed crop is as extensive as feared — potentially 90% of its citrus belt, according to Maxar — it will further worsen food inflation plaguing consumers.
Risk of chemical spills and dead fish: Florida produces much of the US’s phosphate fertiliser, in a process that yields a radioactive and toxic byproduct called phosphogypsum, which is stored in stacks — or big mounds. Last year, one of them suffered a catastrophic failure due to heavy rain, causing a red tide that killed about 816 kg of sea life and forced evacuations in nearby towns. Environmental experts fear a potential repeat with Ian.
Good luck getting insurance: Florida’s insurance market was already chaotic before Ian. But the storm arrives in the wake of six insolvencies among insurers that write homeowner policies in the state. (Bloomberg)
Airlines cancelled almost 2,000 US flights for Thursday after Hurricane Ian hit Florida's Gulf Coast with catastrophic force in one of the most powerful US storms in recent years.
The hurricane is causing significant disruptions to US air travel, especially in the southeast United States. Since Tuesday airlines have cancelled more than 5,000 flights through Friday.
Airlines cancelled 2,163 flights Wednesday as a number of Florida airports temporarily halted operations, including Tampa, Orlando, Sarasota-Bradenton, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Naples and St Petersburg/Clearwater. Airline tracking website Flightaware said 1,935 flights for Thursday had been cancelled and 738 Friday flights scrapped. Airlines cancelled 403 flights Tuesday ahead of the storm. (Reuters)
Two major airports in Florida, namely the Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers and the Orlando International Airport, cancelled flights and ceased functions following the hurricane, as per a New York Times report.
Four Cuban migrants swam to shore in the Florida Keys and three others were rescued from the ocean after their boat sank Wednesday, shortly before Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwestern Florida.
But 20 more people might be missing, officials said.
The four Cubans reached Stock Island, just east of Key West, and reported their vessel sank because of inclement weather, US Customs and Border Protection Chief Patrol Agent Walter N. Slosar said in a post on Twitter. The US Coast Guard initiated a search for 23 people and managed to find three survivors about three kilometers south of the island chain, officials said. The survivors were taken to a local hospital for symptoms of exhaustion and dehydration. Air crews continued to search for the remaining migrants. (AP)
Over 2.18 lakh people are without power in Florida, as per an update on aggregating website poweroutage.us