’An American crisis’: Hurricane Ian’s catastrophic damage
Joe Biden has declared “America’s heart is literally breaking” as deadly Hurricane Ian made landfall again on the US south east and the National Guard was activated.
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Joe Biden has declared ‘America’s heart is literally breaking’ as deadly Hurricane Ian made landfall again, this time on the US south east and the National Guard was activated.
Speaking to the media at the White House at 2pm Friday, local time, as Ian made landfall near Georgetown, South Carolina as a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of around 140km/h, President Biden declared the recovery effort would take years.
As the US south east braced for the Hurricane’s worst, the recovery effort in battered Florida was underway, as the state activated 5,000 National Guard members, and 2,000 national guard members were sent from other states, Fox News reported.
The Carolinas is expecting strong wind damage, storm surges, and flash flooding, while search and rescue operation operations and other emergency protective measures are underway in the Panhandle state.
Shortly after making landfall in South Carolina, Ian was downgraded to a Post-Tropical Cyclone.
“I’ve directed that every possible action be taken to save lives and get help to survivors because every single it counts,” President Biden said in comments responding to the Hurricane.
“It’s not just a crisis for Florida. This is an American crisis. We’re all in this together.
“America’s heart is literally breaking.
“I have immense gratitude for the first responders and emergency crews who always show up no matter what. In times like these, Americans come together. They put aside politics. They put aside division and we come together to help each other.”
‘90 PER CENT GONE’: FLORIDA GROUND ZERO DESTROYED
Earlier, Hurricane Ian made an unprecedented return as it regained strength to threaten the US east coast after leaving a trail of destruction across Florida, with ground zero “90 per cent destroyed”.
The storm front, which went from a Category 5 hurricane to Category 4 as it slammed into Florida before being downgraded to a tropical storm, was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane as it tracked north across the Atlantic Ocean.
As cities in Georgia and South Carolina prepared for impact, communities began to survey the damage in southern west Florida, where at least 21 people were killed and hundreds more were left needing rescue.
Fort Myers Beach, in the direct path of the Hurricane that Florida governor Ron DeSantis described as ground zero, was “90 per cent” destroyed, according to the town’s Councilman Dan Allers told CNN.
“I made it about two-thirds down the island and I’d say 90 per cent of the island is pretty much gone,” he told CNN.
“Unless you have a high-rise condo or a newer concrete home that is built to the same standards today, your house is pretty much gone,” he added.
Fort Myers Mayor, Kevin Anderson, added to the broadcaster that piles of boats strewn across the city “were thrown around like they were nothing.’
Walking amid the wreckage of destroyed marinas on Friday morning, the mayor of Fort Myers, the larger mainland city, marvelled at the Category 4 storm’s destructive power.
“Just look at the boats. These are some large boats. And they’ve been thrown around like they were toys,’ he said.
The US National Hurricane Center said predicted up to two meters of storm surge as it slams into the South Carolina coast by Friday afternoon local time.
The storm, one of the most powerful ever to hit the United States, left 12 dead in Charlotte county, but Governor DeSantis said it was too early to give a concrete death toll, expected to rise into the he hundreds over several days.
‘500 YEAR FLOOD EVENT’
The destruction caused by Hurricane Ian has been described as a “500-year flood event”.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the damage in the southwest of his state was caused by a massive storm surge.
“We’ve never seen storm surge of this magnitude,” he said.
Mr DeSantis said it could be days before a clear picture of the damage and the loss of life was known.
Boats have been left piled on top of each other, while roads have been flooded and covered in beach sand.
The “extremely dangerous” system smashed into the mainland as a high-end Category 4 hurricane on Wednesday and moved slowly across the southern US state, leaving a path of destruction in its wake.
Extraordinary scenes have emerged – including one that appears to show a shark swimming in a flooded area of Fort Myers.
Thirteen people have been confirmed dead so far, with the death toll expected to rise in the coming days, possibly into the “hundreds”.
The sheriff of Lee County, Florida, Sheriff Carmine Marceno, told Good Morning America an exact figure could not be confirmed at this stage, but “fatalities in the hundreds,” were expected.
The deaths span several counties across Flordia, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
US President Biden urged residents of flooded areas in southwestern Florida to remain indoors, warning that the hurricane could bring a historic number of casualties.
“This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida’s history. And numbers are still unclear, but we’re hearing early reports of what may be substantial loss of life,” Mr Biden said during a visit to the Washington headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Mr Biden issued a formal disaster declaration and said the “entire country hurts with” the families being impacted by the disaster.
The US Border Patrol said 20 migrants were missing after their boat sank, with four Cubans swimming to shore in the Florida Keys islands and three rescued at sea by the coast guard.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the eye of the “extremely dangerous” hurricane made landfall just after 3pm local time (5am AEST) on the barrier island of Cayo Costa, west of the city of Fort Myers. It was downgraded to a tropical storm but upgraded back to a Category 1 storm as Georgia and South Carolina braced for its impact as the storm moves up the coast from Florida.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese extended his sympathies to those impacted by the hurricane as national cabinet met on Friday.
“I do want to mention briefly the devastating impact of Hurricane Ian is Florida and extend my deepest sympathies on behalf of Australia to all of those who have been affected in the Florida Peninsula, the Cayman Islands and Cuba,” he said.
“The images of the destruction and suffering that isn‘t a shock of grief and sympathy right around the world. Australia has stood together with the US in times of natural disaster and, of course, Australians would well remember those US firefighters who lost their lives during the bushfire crisis here in Australia of 2019-2020.
“I have indicated to our friends in the United States that Australia remains, as always, prepared to provide any assistance and support that we can at this difficult time. So, we stand with the United States as always.”
#Ian becomes a hurricane again. Taking aim at the Carolinas and Georgia with life-threatening flooding, storm surge and strong winds.
— National Weather Service (@NWS) September 29, 2022
For the latest visit https://t.co/meemB5d6chpic.twitter.com/yvW9r1uLVu
Dramatic television footage from the coastal city of Naples showed floodwaters surging into beachfront homes, submerging roads and sweeping away vehicles.
SUBURBS REDUCED TO ‘LAKES’
Some neighbourhoods in Fort Myers, which has a population of more than 80,000, resembled lakes.
The NHC said Ian’s maximum sustained winds reached 240 kilometres per hour when it landed.
It later weakened to a Category 1 hurricane with winds dropping to a maximum 120 kilometres per hour, battering Florida with storm surges, damaging winds and “life-threatening catastrophic” flooding, the NHC said.
More than two million customers were without electricity in Florida early on Thursday, out of a total of more than 11 million, with southwestern areas of the state the hardest hit, according to the PowerOutage.us tracking website.
MILLIONS BRACE FOR ‘NASTY’ DAYS AHEAD
Ian is set to affect several million people across Florida and in the southeastern states of Georgia and South Carolina.
As hurricane conditions spread, forecasters warned of a once-in-a-generation calamity.
“This is going to be a storm we talk about for many years to come,” said National Weather Service director Ken Graham.
“It’s a historic event.”
Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis said the state was going to experience a “nasty, nasty day, two days.”
The town of Punta Gorda, north of Fort Myers, was in near-total darkness after the storm wiped out power, save for the few buildings with generators.
Howling winds ripped branches off trees, pulled chunks out of roofs, and blew the fronds of palm trees horizontal.
About 2.5 million people were under mandatory evacuation orders in a dozen coastal Florida counties, with several dozen shelters set up, and voluntary evacuation recommended in others.
For those who decided to ride out the storm, authorities stressed it was too late to flee and residents should hunker down and stay indoors.
Airports in Tampa and Orlando stopped all commercial flights, and cruise ship companies delayed departures or cancelled voyages.
With up to 76cm of rain expected to fall on parts of the Sunshine State, and a storm surge that could reach devastating levels of 1.5 to 2.4m, authorities warned of dire emergency conditions.
The storm was set to move across central Florida before emerging in the Atlantic Ocean later Thursday.
AUSSIE CAMERAMAN’S HEROIC ACT
Heroic scenes are emerging from the US where Hurricane Ian made landfall, smashing through Florida’s populated areas.
A Channel 7 cameraman rushed to the aid of several families fleeing rising waters during a live cross on Sunrise.
Glen Ellis dropped his camera as Seven US correspondent Tim Lester was speaking from Naples, Florida, when the drama unfolded.
He could be seen running toward them, while Lester called out to him: “Keep going!”
As Ellis ran off, back in the Sydney studio a concerned David Kochie asked: “Ooh, are you OK?” Lester confirmed the crew was fine, adding that it was an “enormous storm”.
“We’re just helping some people through the water here. That is our camera operator, Glen, out there. I think you can see he is trying to help people who are moving away from their homes,” Lester said.
“We’ve spoken to a couple of them and they tell us that already that their houses have been lost in the water. They have flooded right through and they have had to abandon them.
“They just have no other way of doing it. But they are trying to get out and obviously what we have here, is a relatively high ground, so we are lucky enough to be able to talk to you.”
And in separate footage shared online, a male was filmed saving a cat from flooded water near Bonita Beach.
The young man can be seen walking through rushing waters to reach for the frightened feline.
More Coverage
My boyfriend saving a cat from flood waters near Bonita Beach. #HurricaneIan#Naples#Bonita#FortMyerspic.twitter.com/BlBC9P1rdy
— Megan Cruz Scavo (@MeganScavo) September 28, 2022
Whoa! #Ianhttps://t.co/hjQb2q4FkF
— Mike Bettes (@mikebettes) September 28, 2022
In the eye wall of #Hurricane#Ian in Fort Myers. We're live on @weatherchannel along with @StephanieAbrams and @JimCantore#HurricanIanpic.twitter.com/gSBdmAUjWX
— Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) September 28, 2022
Originally published as ’An American crisis’: Hurricane Ian’s catastrophic damage
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