Ian produces heavy rains in North Carolina and Virginia after hitting the southeastern US.

The cyclone was moving over e this state toward the north-northwest at 19 km/h, after applying a turn with Heading north, the remnants of Ian are expected to reach southern and central Virginia later this afternoon, according to the NHC.

All coastal warnings associated with Ian have been disabled , which in central Florida, however, can still cause rivers to overflow this Saturday, as warned by the meteorological center.

After making landfall in Cuba, last Wednesday Ian’s eye reached Florida as Category 4 hurricane, out of a maximum of 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

CATASTROPHIC IMPACT

After making landfall in Cayo Costa, in southwestern Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 240 km/h, Ian continued through this state where so far they are accounted for 19 dead, according to the Florida Medical Examiners Commission, although the CNN talks about up to 45 deaths.

“Catastrophic impact ”, the fire chief of Fort Myers Beach, a small coastal town devastated by Ian and located in Lee County, in southwestern Florida, which is “ground zero”, as he acknowledged on Friday, summarized in statements to Efe. State Governor Ron DeSantis after a visit to the area.

In Lee and its neighboring Charlotte county, authorities and residents are today focusing on recovery efforts amid the devastation, including downed trees and power poles, roads not yet fit for traffic and some like the that connects tourist Sanibel with the mainland split in two.

Destroyed was also the two-lane road that connects Pine Island with the colorful town of Matlacha, a fishing town of some 850 people devastated by rising sea levels caused by storm surge and where e some houses were uprooted and ended up in the water by the winds, as Efe was able to verify.

The neighbors, some of whom have to go by boat to see what is left of their house reported residents who lost their lives trapped in the rubble of their homes.

There, as in the Fort Myers area, recovery efforts continue amid difficulties, as is happening to the residents of the Hidden River community, a part of which can be seen shocked by the possible breach of a levee, as the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, north of Fort Myers, warned this Saturday.

In Florida, the Carolinas and Virginia, more than 1.6 million people They are without electricity this Saturday, according to the poweroutage platform.

A RECONSTRUCTION THAT WILL TAKE YEARS

Spokespersons for FPL, the main energy company in Florida, have indicated that they have been able to restore electricity to more than 1.4 million customers, but warned that it will take “weeks” to fully restore power. More than 2.6 million people lost power once Ian arrived in Florida.

US President Joe Biden authorized the distribution of more federal funds through the issuance of a disaster declaration for Florida, including the areas of the Seminole tribe, as well as for Virginia, while for South Carolina and its neighbor to the North it issued an emergency declaration.

“ It will take months, years, the reconstruction. And our hearts go out to all those people whose lives have been absolutely devastated by the storm,” said the president on Friday, who hopes to visit Florida and Puerto Rico, the latter recently impacted by Hurricane Fiona.

Ian made landfall again in the United States Friday afternoon as a Category 1 hurricane in Georgetown, South Carolina.

According to the Washington Post, the Insurance Information Institute estimates that material losses from Ian could exceed 60,000 million dollars, the worst record since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 .