FORT MYERS, United States, Sept 29, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Hurricane Ian inundated
cities, turned out the lights on millions of residents and left migrants from
an overturned boat missing Thursday as Florida assessed damage from what the
state governor described as a "500-year flood event."
Officials launched a major emergency response after one of the most intense
US storms in years, with helicopter crews plucking survivors from barrier
islands slammed by a deluge that saw storm surges crash through beachfront
towns and horizontal rain pound communities for hours.
After an initial look at the breathtaking destruction, Florida Governor Ron
DeSantis said the coastal city of Fort Myers and adjacent Cape Coral were
"really inundated and really devastated" by the storm.
He said there were "two unconfirmed fatalities" that were likely linked to
the hurricane.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) downgraded Ian to a tropical storm
Thursday, but said it was causing "catastrophic flooding" and forecast
further "life-threatening" floods, storm surge and high winds in central and
eastern Florida as well as Georgia and South Carolina.
The US Border Patrol said a boat carrying migrants sank at sea during the
hurricane, leaving 20 missing. Four Cubans swam to shore in the Florida Keys
islands and the coast guard rescued three others.
Ian also menaced the city of Orlando and the nearby Disney theme parks, which
were shuttered.
- 'We're alive' -
Ian's savagery was most evident along Florida's west coast, including Punta
Gorda, which was plunged into darkness after the storm wiped out power.
Howling winds toppled trees, pulled chunks out of roofs, and turned debris
into dangerous projectiles whipping through town.
Punta Gorda urvivor Joe Ketcham, 70, told AFP of the "relentless" banging of
metal and his fears about what was to come as the hurricane battered his
home.
"But I have the almighty savior who I prayed to. This is all material," the
70-year-old said of the damage around him. "We're alive. We're fine."
Lisamarie Pierro said that the storm "was long and intense... the mess it
left. But this is nothing. My house is still standing."
President Joe Biden declared a "major disaster" in Florida, a move that frees
up federal funding for storm relief.
DeSantis meanwhile warned that broad swathes of Florida remained under
threat.
"The amount of water that's been rising, and will continue today even as the
storm is passing, is basically a 500-year flood event," he told a press
conference.
Two barrier islands near Fort Myers, Pine Island and Sanibel Island, popular
with vacationers, were essentially cut off when the storm damaged causeways
to the mainland.
"The coast guard has been performing rescue missions on the barrier islands
consistently since the wee hours of the morning," DeSantis added.
- Evacuations, power outages -
Ian made landfall as an extremely powerful hurricane just after 3:00 pm
Wednesday on the barrier island of Cayo Costa, west of Fort Myers.
Dramatic television footage showed floodwaters surging into beachfront homes,
submerging roads and sweeping away vehicles.
The NHC said Ian's maximum sustained winds reached 150 miles (240 kilometers)
per hour when it landed as a Category 4 hurricane -- just shy of the maximum
Category 5.
As a tropical storm, wind dropped to a maximum 65 miles per hour on Thursday.
Some 2.6 million of Florida's 11 million homes and businesses were without
power Thursday, according to the PowerOutage tracking website.
Mandatory evacuation orders had been issued in many areas, with several dozen
shelters set up. Airports stopped all commercial flights, and cruise ship
companies delayed or canceled voyages.
The storm was set to move off the east-central coast of Florida later
Thursday and emerge into the Atlantic before blowing through Georgia and the
Carolinas to the north.
"Some slight re-intensification is forecast, and Ian could be near hurricane
strength when it approaches the coast of South Carolina on Friday," according
to the NHC.
Ian had plunged all of Cuba into darkness Tuesday, after battering the
country's west and downing the island's power network.
At least two people died in Pinar del Rio province, state media in the
country of more than 11 million reported.
In the United States, some 5,000 National Guard personnel were mobilized in
Florida as DeSantis vowed an all-out rescue and recovery effort.
Last year, four hurricanes were among 20 separate weather incidents that cost
the United States $1 billion or more, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration said.
Human activity has caused life-threatening climate change resulting in more
severe weather events across the globe.