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After strengthening in the Atlantic Ocean, Ian made landfall Friday as a Category 1 hurricane in the coastal city of Georgetown, South Carolina, where tens of thousands of people are without power.
This is the second time that Ian has made landfall in the United States, this time with sustained winds of about 140 km/hour, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).
After making landfall and moving north, Ian weakened to become a post-tropical cyclone, although torrential rains are expected in the Carolinas and Virginia in the next few hours. Florida emergency services officials said 21 people had been confirmed dead as of Friday morning.
The death toll is not yet known, but US President Joe Biden has said "this may have been the deadliest hurricane in Florida history." "The numbers are not clear yet, but we are hearing reports that there could be significant loss of life," he added.
Hurricane Andrew killed 15 people directly and dozens from indirect causes in 1992. "Many families are suffering," he said, launching a message of unity to help those affected. Biden has declared much of Florida a disaster area. He has also appealed to the oil companies not to raise the price of gasoline with the hurricane as an excuse.
What is Hurricane Ian
Hurricane Ian is a large, rapidly weakening post-tropical cyclone impacting parts of the Carolinas in the United States after making landfall in western Cuba and then central Florida. It was the ninth named storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season.
Ian originated from a tropical wave that was located by the National Hurricane Center to the east of the Windward Islands on September 19, 2022. Two days later, the wave moved into the Caribbean Sea bringing winds and heavy rain to the ABC islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and the northern coasts of Venezuela and Colombia from September 21 to 22.
It showed signs of developing into a tropical depression later that day, as convection increased and the system became more compact. After strengthening into Tropical Storm Ian, it strengthened into a hurricane as it approached the Cayman Islands, before rapidly intensifying to a high-level Category 3 hurricane as it made landfall in western Cuba.
A major storm surge and heavy rains affected Cuba and the entire province of Pinar del Río was left without electricity. It weakened slightly during its time over land, but strengthened once it moved into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and over the Dry Tortugas, becoming a high-level Category 4 hurricane early on September 28, 2022, as moving towards the west coast. from Florida
Came back stronger
Hours before, the city had a brief respite when it was in the eye of the hurricane. But the storms and the rain came back with more force, ripping off sign boards and carrying away large pieces of roofs and tree branches.
In Naples, in southwestern Florida, images from the MSNBC channel showed completely flooded streets and cars floating in the current, while in Fort Myers, the flooding was so great that some neighbourhoods resembled lakes.
In some areas, flooding can exceed three meters, state Governor Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday night.
Governor DeSantis said Wednesday night that Ian "is one of the five most powerful hurricanes to ever hit Florida."
Catastrophic storm surge
"This is a storm that will be talked about for many years," National Weather Service (NWS) Director Ken Graham told a news conference.
The hurricane continued to "attack" with "catastrophic storm surges", winds exceeding 180 km / h (and will pass through the central region of the state tonight, reported the National Hurricane Center (NHC) of the United States.
At 8:00 local time (02:00 CET), Ian's eye, which has lowered the strength of its winds after touching, was located 50 km northeast of Punta Gorda and 150 km south of Orlando, in the state of Florida.
It has maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h, which means it remains a powerful Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the NHC said. It moves from north to northeast with a speed of 13 km/h.
Georgia and South Carolina in the crosshairs
On the forecast track, Ian's eye is expected to move across central Florida tonight and Thursday morning, then emerge over the western Atlantic Thursday night, then turn north on Friday and Thursday morning. Thursday. it approaches the coasts of northeast Florida and the states of Georgia and South Carolina.
Hurricane Ian thus left "catastrophic flooding" in its wake, said the Center, which also downgraded the hurricane's strength to category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, from one to five, although it remains dangerous.
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