Hurricane Ian, One of the most powerful storms to hit the United States, has killed more than 40 people. On Wednesday, President Biden will travel to Florida to assess the damage.
In submerged neighborhoods and along Florida’s southwest coast, rescuers continue to search for survivors on Saturday. Wednesday’s Category 4 hurricane Ian ravaged homes and businesses.
Florida’s Medical Examiners Commission confirmed 44 storm-related deaths, but more deaths are still being reported county-by-county, suggesting a much higher overall death toll.
NBC and CBS alone tallied more than 70 deaths directly or indirectly related to the storm in Lee County alone, according to its sheriff. A governor’s office in North Carolina confirmed four deaths related to Ian.
Biden and his wife
On Monday, Biden and his wife, Jill, will head to Puerto Rico to survey the destruction caused by Hurricane Fiona, which struck the US territory last month.
Citizens and rescuers were still rescuing Matlacha residents on Saturday in Lee County, Florida. Streets were littered with debris, abandoned cars, and dead trees.
Due to bridge damage, about 800 people were cut off from the mainland, and those who fled early were just beginning to return home to survey the damage.
Chip Farrar told the agency that “nobody is telling us what to do, no one is telling us where to go.”
He said he received the evacuation orders very late. The majority of people still here wouldn’t have left anyway. This is a very blue-collar place. The biggest problem is that most people do not have anywhere to go.
According to the US Coast Guard, 16 asylum seekers are missing after their boat sank during the hurricane. There were two deaths and nine rescues in the Florida Keys, including four Cuban nationals who swam to shore.
Florida made 900,000 people difficult to return home
In Florida, over 900,000 people were without power Saturday night, making it difficult for them to return home. He said his home in Fort Myers Beach was “flipped upside down, soaked wet, and full of mud” after being hit by the storm.
With winds of 140 km/h (85 mph), Ian made landfall again in the US on Friday. As a post tropical cyclone, it dissipated over Virginia on Saturday.
In North Carolina and Virginia, more than 45,000 people remain without power, according to power outage.us.
Wind-related losses for residential and commercial properties in Florida are expected to cost insurers up to $32 billion, while flooding losses are expected to reach $15 billion. “Since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, this is the costliest hurricane to hit Florida.”
Governor DeSantis’ office reported more than 1,100 rescues across the state on Saturday morning. According to DeSantis, hundreds of rescue personnel went door-to-door along the coast.
Thousands of Floridians opted to stay put during the storm rather than evacuate. Causeways connecting Pine Island and Sanibel Island to the mainland were damaged by the storm near Fort Myers.
Sanibel and elsewhere have been devastated by aerial photos and videos. Fort Myers reopened a few restaurants and bars amid destroyed stores and downed trees.
The power network of Cuba was downed by Ian before he pounded Florida. Many homes remain without electricity, mainly in Havana.
Hurricane Orlene, a new tropical storm in the Pacific, intensified to Category 2 strength off the Mexican coast. Globally, climate change is causing more severe weather events, scientists say.
