Hurricane Ian is gaining strength and heading towards the Carolinas – with uncertainty over the death toll the storm has caused in Florida.
It’s one of the strongest storms to ever hit the United States – and emergency crews are trying to reach stranded Floridians after Ian cuts a path of destruction across the state.
More than 2.6 million power outages have been reported, with authorities warning of dangerous flooding. There was virtually no cell phone service in some areas and internet connectivity was also affected.
First reports of ‘substantial loss of life’ – Hurricane Ian updates
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did not confirm the number of people killed, but said, “We fully expect this hurricane to die.”
And President Joe Biden said, “The numbers are still unclear, but we’re hearing early reports of what could be a significant loss of life.”
According to NBC News, at least 12 deaths have been linked to Hurricane Ian in Florida so far.
A 72-year-old man died after going out during the storm to empty his swimming pool.
The sheriff of one of the hardest-hit areas – Lee County – told US media that deaths could number “in the hundreds” and that he had received thousands of 911 calls.
“It crushed us,” Sheriff Carmine Marceno said. “We still cannot access many people in need.”
It is feared that many people in the hardest hit areas were unable to call for help due to power and mobile phone network outages.
Eyewitness: No one expected this storm to be so violent
Ian is now back in the Atlantic Ocean but is expected to make landfall again at 2pm local time (7pm UK time) later today as a Category 1 hurricane.
Forecasts suggest it will bring life-threatening flooding, storm surges, high winds and potentially landslides and tornadoes to Georgia as well as North and South Carolina.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper urged residents to take precautions and warned, “This storm is still dangerous.”
A hurricane warning is in effect for hundreds of miles of coastline.
In South Carolina, the city of Charleston is particularly threatened. A report commissioned by local authorities suggests that 90% of all residential properties are vulnerable to storm surge flooding.
Mr DeSantis called the damage in Florida “historic” – and disaster officials believe thousands of people could be displaced in the long term.
Walt Disney World and other central Florida tourist attractions appear to have avoided serious damage to Ian, but many businesses on the state’s southwest coast – also a tourist hotspot – have been destroyed and face to a long process of reconstruction.
President Biden has declared a major disaster, releasing federal funds to pay for measures such as temporary housing for the displaced.
Ian was a category four storm with winds reaching 150 mph when it hit southwest Florida on Wednesday, making it the fifth strongest hurricane to hit the United States.
At least 700 confirmed rescues have taken place across the state, with first responders going door to door following Ian.
Residents are urged to be careful when using chainsaws and ladders – with emergency officials warning that the number of “indirect deaths” during cleanup could exceed the number of deaths caused by the hurricane itself.
Most schools in Florida are expected to reopen today or Monday, and flights from Orlando airport are expected to resume in the coming hours.
Read more from Sky News:
Dramatic before and after footage shows the scale of the destruction
Residents say they escaped the eye of the storm
Preliminary reports from scientists who study extreme weather suggest that human-caused climate change increased Hurricane Ian’s rainfall by 10%.
A warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapour. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researcher Michael Wehner said, “Climate change didn’t cause the storm, but it did make it wetter.”
MIT atmospheric scientist Kerry Emanuel added: “This story of very, very heavy rain is something we expected to see because of climate change.
“We will see more storms like Ian.”