Hundreds are feared dead Thursday and thousands desperately wait for rescue as powerful Hurricane Ian hammered Florida with heavy rain and strong winds.
“While I don’t have confirmed numbers, I definitely know the fatalities are in the hundreds,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America.” “There are thousands of people that are waiting to be rescued.”
When pressed on the numbers, Marceno said “so far confirmed in the hundreds. Meaning that we are responding to events, drownings. Again, unsure of the exact details because we are just starting to scratch the surface on this assessment.”
Well over 2.5 Florida million homes and businesses were without power early Thursday.
Officials warned that Ian, which made landfall as a hurricane on Wednesday, could go down as one of the worst storms to ever hit the state. Forecasters downgraded Ian to a tropical storm on Thursday as it made its way toward the Atlantic Ocean, threatening Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia.
More airports canceled operations, with Jacksonville International saying it had closed. There were reports of severe flooding, including in Naples, where authorities said more than half of the streets were not “passable.” Storm surge of more than 12 feet was recorded in some areas.
Governor Ron DeSantis has kept the public informed as to the latest developments today, saying at one point that restoring power to Lee and Charlotte counties would require rebuilding infrastructure, not just “connecting a power line back to a pole.” “Lee and Charlotte are basically off the grid at this point,” he said.
DeSantis also said officials were still trying to assess the extent of the damage. “Today is about identifying the people who need help and may still be in harm’s way,” he said.
As of the 8:00 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Ian is located about 10 miles (15 kilometers) west of Cape Canaveral and s moving toward the northeast at a leisurely 8 mph (13 kph).
Tropical Storm Ian has sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph), along with higher gusts. Later today, Ian is forecast to take a turn toward the north-northeast and then followed by a turn toward the north and north northeast Friday and Friday night along with an increase in forward speed.
The NHC warns that as the storm approaches the South Carolina coast there could be re-intensification with Ian approaching near-hurricane strength Friday night. The governors of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia all preemptively declared states of emergency.
“State agencies are working together and preparing for Hurricane Ian’s potential impact,” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMasters said on Twitter. “Each South Carolinian should do the same – take the time now to make a plan for every contingency.”
Governor Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency in Virginia ahead of Hurricane Ian. The Commonwealth is expected to see impacts from the storm throughout the weekend.
