The day after Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida, September 30, 2022. RICARDO ARDUENGO / AFP
Storm Ian hit South Carolina on Friday, September 30 after devastating a portion of Florida, where it claimed dozens of lives.
Authorities in this state in the southeastern United States announced a new death toll of 23 on Friday night, most of them from drowning and the vast majority of whom were elderly. Some American media conjure up an even higher human toll, the CNN television network speaks of 45 dead.
Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers Hurricane Ian: Florida drowned under the waves
Ian then tracked South Carolina, where it made landfall near Georgetown in the early afternoon as a Category 1 hurricane accompanied by winds up to 90 mph, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Although it then weakened into a post-tropical storm (winds up to 70 mph), its downpours caused sudden flooding in that state and North Carolina, where some areas could receive up to 20 cm of rainfall.
Posttropical Cyclone #Ian Advisory 33A: Ian will bring heavy rain, flash flooding and strong winds to the Carolinas. https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB
President Joe Biden has urged residents to heed calls for caution from local authorities. In South Carolina, they asked people not to drive on the waterlogged roads. “It’s a dangerous storm that will bring strong winds and lots of water, but the most dangerous thing will be human error. Be smart, make good decisions, take care of your loved ones and stay safe.” tweeted Gov. Henry McMaster.
More than 1.4 million homes remain without power in Florida
According to the Hurricane Center, Ian is expected to “continue to weaken overnight and dissipate over western North Carolina or Virginia” late Saturday.
According to the specialist website PowerOutage, 575,000 homes and businesses in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia were already without power as of Friday evening. In Florida, more than 1.4 million customers were without power as of Friday night, two days after Ian’s passage, according to PowerOutage.
In addition to the high death toll, the material damage is “historic,” according to Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that the magnitude achieved by the rising waters is unprecedented. Streets and homes were flooded and boats moored in marinas were thrown ashore by the storm.
On Friday, authorities in Kissimmee, near Orlando, crossed the flooded areas in boats to rescue residents trapped in their homes. In this state, “we are just beginning to appreciate the extent of the destruction” that is “probably among the worst” in US history, Joe Biden said during a speech. “Reconstruction will take months, years,” he lamented.
A street covered in debris caused by the passage of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida on September 30, 2022. REBECCA BLACKWELL / AP
In the coastal city of Fort Myers, dubbed the “epicenter” by Ron DeSantis, a handful of restaurants and bars had reopened and dozens of people sat on patios, offering residents a semblance of normality amid fallen trees and shattered facades.
At the same time, the search found seventeen passengers on a migrant boat that capsized near the Keys archipelago on Wednesday.
Increased precipitation due to climate change
According to initial estimates, the passage of Hurricane Ian could cost insurers tens of billions of dollars and weigh on American growth, particularly through flight cancellations and damage to agricultural production.
Rainfall associated with Hurricane Ian has increased by at least 10% due to climate change, according to a first rapid study by American scientists released Friday. “Climate change didn’t cause the hurricane, but it did make it wetter,” said Michael Wehner of the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, one of the scientists involved in this study.
Ian struck Cuba off Florida, causing three deaths and extensive damage, leaving many houses without power there as well.