Hurricane Ian has put the lives of millions of residents in the southern and eastern United States on hold since it made landfall in Florida last Wednesday. Since then, sweeping through South Carolina, the massive storm has left a trail of destruction and at least 73 dead, including four in North Carolina on Saturday.
Florida takes the worst part in destruction and mortality, at least 66 deceased. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno assured that 35 neighbors have died in his territory alone. Fort Myers is located in this county, an area through which the hurricane entered and one of the most affected. The before and after images of the beach of this city gave the result of a devastating comparison, practically nobody was left standing, except for the piles of rubble.
Some rescue teams, who were still moving in boats, assured that there were many corpses in the canals, which raises the suspicion that the number of deaths may still be much higher. The president of the United States, Joe Biden, assured last Thursday that "this hurricane may be the deadliest in the history of Florida." Unfortunately, the passing of the hours only confirms that impression.
In addition to thousands of users without electricity in South Carolina, whose governor assured that they have fared better than expected, in North Carolina and Virginia due to the impact of the storm, more than 1.3 million people were still without electricity in Florida and thousands of residents were without drinking water, despite being surrounded and inundated by water.
Governor Ron DeSantis himself acknowledged that the reconstruction task will take years. A first estimate has been made in which it is considered that the damage amounts, up to now, to some 67,000 million dollars. There are, however, studies in which it is predicted that this bill will exceed 100,000 million. It is clear why it is said that this is a historical catastrophe.
As the storm has receded, some roads have begun to open up to traffic, after being closed due to the risk. This Saturday new floods were feared due to the fear that some dams could not contain the pressure. Meanwhile, the rescue efforts continued, with some 4,000 people rescued since Thursday by the actions of various agencies, Rear Admiral Brendan McPherson, commander of the US Coast Guard, reported this Saturday at a press conference.
"The coast is going to be out of service for some time," he warned. “It has hit very hard, there is not even the basic infrastructure left,” he insisted.
It is also confirmed that thousands of citizens are displaced from their homes, which they had to evacuate in the face of danger. And it was more than real. Many will have difficulty even recognizing what until recently was their home. According to Anne Bink, a representative of the federal emergency agency, there are about 10,000 people outside their homes who are sheltered.
Aerial images from the National Oceanic Service show the destruction that has occurred in coastal areas of Florida, badly hit by the hurricane, completely devastated. Some neighbors have described them to the media like this: “It is as if someone took an atomic bomb and dropped it.”
The National Hurricane Center noted this Saturday that the storm would continue to weaken near the border between North Carolina, where President Biden also declared an emergency situation, and Virginia throughout the day. In its statement it was added that this loss of power would continue this Sunday. But the alarm was insisted that Ian and his tails continue to be a serious danger, with the possibility of flash floods in parts of those two states.
