At least seven people died after Hurricane Ian hit Florida’s west coast with record flooding reaching 12 feet in some areas and intense winds, according to AP.
The big picture: More than 1.9 million customers were without power in Florida Friday morning as the state began search and rescue and recovery efforts to deal with severe damage from the hurricane.
- Two people died in a car accident Thursday afternoon in Putnam County, which was inundated with rain as the storm passed over the state.
- At least two people have been confirmed dead on Sanibel, an island in southwest Florida that has seen major surge-related flooding during the storm.
- A Lake County person died Wednesday after their vehicle hydroplaned, while another person was found dead in the central Florida town of Deltona, according to AP.
The last: The storm regained hurricane status Thursday evening en route to a damaging encounter with the Carolinas and part of southern Georgia.
- As of 11 a.m. ET, the storm was located 60 miles east-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and 120 miles south-southwest of Cape Fear, North Carolina, although it was moving north at 14 mph with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, the NHC said.
- It is expected to make landfall Friday afternoon in South Carolina, bringing high winds and “deadly” storm surge along the coasts of northeast Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.
What they say : “This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida history,” President Biden said during a Thursday afternoon briefing, adding that “we are hearing early reports of what may be casualties of important lives”.
- “We absolutely expect to have some mortality from this hurricane,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said during a Thursday press briefing.
- DeSantis said there were more than 700 confirmed rescues as of Thursday night.
- Some of Florida’s deadliest hurricanes tracked by the National Hurricane Center during the first half of the 20th century claimed between 350 and 1,800 lives.
NHC officials were notified on Thursday evening that many hurricane-related deaths occur within days of the storm’s passage while people recover.
- These deaths, also known as “indirect deaths”, mainly result from excessive heat, overexertion and carbon monoxide poisoning due to the operation of generators inside.
Ian made landfall as an “extremely dangerous” hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour on the southwest coast of Florida on Wednesday near Cayo Costa, an island west of Cape Coral, according to the National Hurricane Center.
- It then moved north-northeast and made landfall with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph over mainland Florida just south of the town of Punta Gorda before heading northeast across the state and weaken into a tropical storm.
Go further:
This story has been updated with additional reports.
