MIAMI – Post-tropical cyclone Ian produces heavy rains this Saturday as it passes through North Carolina and is expected to continue its journey through Virginia, in what are the last throes of a path of destruction through the southeastern United States, with at least 45 dead.
In its latest bulletin dedicated to Ian, the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted that the post-tropical cyclone can produce up to 77 milliliters of rainfall over the center of the Appalachian Mountains, that is, in areas of Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia, where flooding and strong gusts of wind can occur.
On this Saturday morning, Ian’s center was about 45 kilometers south of Greensboro, North Carolina, and had max winds We sustained 55 kilometers per hour.
The cyclone was moving over this state to the north-northwest at 19 km/ hy, after applying a northbound turn, the remnants of Ian are expected to reach southern and central Virginia later this afternoon, according to the NHC.
They have been deactivated all the warnings in coastal areas associated with Ian, 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 the eye of Ian reached Florida as a category 4 hurricane, out of a maximum of 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
After making landfall on Cayo Costa, in southwestern Florida, with winds sustained maximum of 100 km/h, Ian pro continued through this state where so far dead , as announced by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission, although CNN speaks of up to 45 deaths.
“Catastrophic impact,” the fire chief of Fort Myers Beach, a small coastal town devastated by Ian and located in the county, summed up in statements to Efe Lee, in southwestern Florida, which is “ground zero,” as state governor Ron DeSantis acknowledged on Friday after a visit to the area.
In Lee and neighboring Charlotte County, Authorities and residents today focus on recovery efforts amidst the devastation, including downed trees and power poles, roads not yet fit for traffic, and some like the one that connects tourist Sanibel with the mainland split in two.
The road was also destroyed. e two lanes that connects Pine Island with the colorful town of Matlacha, a fishing village of some 850 people devastated by the increase in sea level due to the storm surge and where 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 in boats to see what remains of their homes, reported residents who lost their lives trapped in the rubble of their homes.
There, as in the Fort Myers area, recovery efforts continue in the midst of difficulties, as is happening to the residents of the Hidden River community, a part of which may be impacted by the possible breakage of a dam, as the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, north of Fort Myers.
In Florida, the Carolinas and Virginia more than 1.6 million people 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 of $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 issuing a disaster declaration for Florida, including the Seminole Tribe areas, as well as Virginia, while issuing an emergency declaration for South Carolina and its neighbor to the North.
“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 on Friday afternoon as a category 1 hurricane in Georgetown, South Carolina.
According to the Washington Post, the Insurance Information Institute estimates that Ian’s material losses could exceed $60, million dollars, the worst record since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.