FORT MYERS, Fla., Sept 30 (Reuters) – A resurgent Hurricane Ian headed toward South Carolina on Friday, a day after carving a path of destruction across the Florida peninsula, leveling homes, causing landslides of a roadway and stranding thousands of people along the state’s Gulf Coast.
The hurricane caused at least 21 confirmed or unconfirmed deaths in Florida, Kevin Guthrie, director of the state’s Division of Emergency Management, said at a morning briefing. It was the first time a state official had offered an estimate of the human toll.
Ian, which had weakened to a tropical storm as it moved through Florida, was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane on Thursday as it moved toward South Carolina with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h), the US National Hurricane Center (NHC). ) said.
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The hurricane was expected to make landfall north of lower Charleston around 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT) on Friday, bringing potentially deadly flooding, storm surge and winds. Hundreds of miles of coastline, stretching from Georgia to North Carolina, were under a hurricane warning.
Officials in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina urged residents to prepare for hazardous conditions.
By mid-morning Friday in Charleston and Charleston County, South Carolina, everyone was ordered off the roads and Charleston International Airport was closed due to high winds.
Kelsey Barlow, a spokeswoman for Charleston County, which is home to more than 400,000 residents, said the county has two shelters open and a third on standby.
“But it’s too late for people to come to shelters. The storm is here. Everyone needs to shelter in place, stay off the roads,” Barlow said.
Barlow said a storm surge of more than seven feet was expected, on top of the midday high tide that could bring another six feet of water, causing massive flooding.
With the eye of the storm still hours away, the torrential rain had already reached Charleston. Video clips on social media showed several centimeters of water in some streets of the historic port city, which is particularly prone to flooding.
Charleston is especially at risk. A city-commissioned report released in November 2020 found that about 90% of all residential properties were vulnerable to flooding from the storm surge. Parts of northeastern South Carolina near Charleston could also experience up to eight inches of rain.
Still, the expected storm surges were not as severe as those issued by the NHC as the storm approached Florida. Edisto Beach, South Carolina, a tourist destination about 30 miles south of Charleston, was expected to see a rise of four to seven feet. That compares with storm surges of 12 feet reported earlier in the week along parts of the Gulf Coast.
‘BIG WALLOP’
Two days after Ian first made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the North American continent, the extent of the damage there was becoming more apparent.
“It’s clearly had a big impact,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at the briefing.
A local resident removes debris from the road to try to keep drains clear as Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S., September 30, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake
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“The response was very, very quick,” he said. “I think that response made all the difference.”
Guthrie said about 10,000 people were missing, but many of them were likely in shelters or without power, making it impossible to check with loved ones or local officials. He said he expected the number to decline “organically” in the coming days.
Fort Myers, a city near where the eye of the storm first made landfall, took a big hit, with scores of homes destroyed by 150 mph winds and a powerful storm surge. Offshore, Sanibel Island, a popular destination for vacationers and retirees, was cut off when a causeway became impassable.
Hundreds of beleaguered Fort Myers residents lined up at a Home Depot that opened early Friday on the city’s east side, hoping to buy gas cans, generators, bottled water and anything else needed to to survive The line stretched 100 meters.
Many said they felt city and state governments were doing everything they could to help people, but said the lack of communication and uncertainty about how they would continue to live in the area weighed heavily on them.
Sarah Sodre-Crot and Marco Martins, a married couple, both 22 years old, emigrated from Brazil with their families five years ago, looking for a better life than the one they had at home. They rode out the storm at their home east of Fort Myers.
“I know the government is doing everything it can, but we feel lost, like we don’t have answers. Will the power come back in a week? In a month? We just want to know so we can plan our lives a bit,” said Sodre-Crot.
About 1.99 million homes and businesses were without power Friday, according to tracking service poweroutage.com. Ian has impacted more than 3.3 million customers since he arrived on Wednesday.
Ian first made landfall Wednesday afternoon when it slammed into the barrier island of Cayo Costa on Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 km/h).
Read more:
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Reporting by Brad Brooks; Additional reporting by Rich McKay, Brendan O’Brien and Frank McGurty; Written by Brendan O’Brien and Frank McGurty; Editing by Mark Porter
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