The storm hasn’t had enough, it moves on at night. as ian Florida, it whirls up towards South Carolina on Friday, picks up speed again over the Atlantic and becomes a hurricane again. On Wednesday (local time) had ian at magnitude 4, struck the peninsula in the southeastern United States before briefly appearing to be saturated and being downgraded to a tropical storm. What remains is a trail of destruction, only gradually does it become clear what ian in the territory of beaches and amusement parks.
There is talk of several deaths, how many victims there are can hardly be estimated. US President Joe Biden speaks of a “significant loss of life” that this could be the deadliest storm in Florida history.
Hundreds of stranded people were rescued using boats and helicopters. More than 2.5 million residents of the peninsula are without electricity. Naples and Fort Myers on the west coast were particularly badly hit, where ian arrived on the North American mainland from Cuba. Some houses have been wiped out, only concrete slabs are left, says Governor Ron DeSantis, you see it all the time on TV now.
The Lee County Sheriff is at a loss for words at the sight of Fort Myers Beach. It was an area of hotels, restaurants, palm trees, and sand, and now? “Absolute devastation,” reports a woman Tampa Bay Times, “there is almost nothing left.” A 60-year-old man there feels like an atomic bomb has been dropped. Shredded streets, floating cars, broken bars, yachts have squeezed each other in the marina like after a tsunami.
The yachts in Fort Myers harbor are devastated, just as if a tsunami had rolled over them.
(Photo: Ricardo Arduengo/AFP)
The sky sent enormous amounts of rain, and the waters from the Gulf of Mexico were pushed onto the shore. “I can’t believe Mother Nature would do something like this,” a Fort Myers Beach vendor said. “My God.”
Buildings have collapsed, the bridge to the islands of Sanibel and Captiva has been partially demolished and is impassable. DeSantis calls the damage on Sanibel “biblical”. In Fort Myers, the sign “Caution, slippery when wet” on a staircase looks like a mockery as a passer-by is helped out of the mud. In flooded Naples, an Australian cameraman briefly put down the camera during the live broadcast and rushed to the aid of a family.
In Collier County, the sheriff issued a nighttime curfew. The water is rising, debris is lying on the streets and many people have left their homes and shops, he explains. “We don’t want criminals to prey on our residents and businesses at one of the most vulnerable times of their lives.”
The people of Florida are cleaning up. The governor warns not to return to the disaster area too soon.
(Photo: Giorgio Viera/AFP)
Gov. DeSantis is advising people rescued to take their time before returning home, watch out for uprooted trees and downed power lines, and not drive in standing water. Many people are homeless and it will take a long time and billions of dollars to rebuild. Disney World in Orlando reports that theme parks will reopen on Friday. They say the weather is getting better. The weather is getting worse in South Carolina ian comes.