Thousands of people are still stuck in their flooded houses, and two million people are without electricity as Hurricane Ian barrels across Florida.
Helpless Floridians frantically contacted their family members and the authorities, requesting to be rescued from their houses as they saw the swelling floodwaters force their way through their doors.
The storm surge flooded the emergency department on the lower level of the HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital in Port Charlotte, while strong winds tore a portion of the roof off the hospital’s fourth floor intensive care units.
Dr. Birgit Bodine, who had camped out at the hospital to assist patients, stated that the institution’s sickest patients, some of whom were on ventilators, were evacuated to other floors when water rushed into the intensive care unit (ICU).
Wednesday afternoon, as a Category 4 hurricane packing sustained winds of 150 miles per hour and in some spots a wall of water 18 feet high, the powerful hurricane slammed ashore with catastrophic fury. The clean-up will cost billions of dollars.
After evening, the hurricane, one of the strongest to ever strike the United States, was downgraded to a Category 1 storm with sustained winds of 90 mph. It is likely to appear over the waterways later today as it moves towards the Atlantic at 10mph.
As the slow-moving hurricane advances inland, it continues to pour torrential rains, trapping hundreds, if not thousands, of people in their flooded houses.
Hundreds of people are still stuck in their flooded houses, and two million are without electricity as Hurricane Ian barrels across Florida.
On local television and social media, photographs of the storm’s wrath revealed that in some towns, floodwaters nearly reached the rooftops, swept away automobiles and destroyed homes, and twisted palm trees almost in half. Pictured: Video stills depict the orange roof of a house drifting down a flooded Naples street.
A downtown Fort Myers street is flooded as Hurricane Ian makes landfall in southwestern Florida.
In Sarasota, Florida, on September 28, 2022, a street is littered with debris left by Hurricane Ian.
A time-lapse video from Fort Myers depicts the terrible influx of flooded water and street flooding.
27 September night, Hurricane Ian passed over Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West, inflicting flood damage and forcing Navy troops and their families to evacuate.
Wednesday in Fort Myers, Florida, a roadway is flooded as Hurricane Ian makes landfall in southwestern Florida.
The picturesque southwestern coastline of Florida, which was filled with sandy beaches, coastal communities, and mobile home parks, was rapidly converted into a seawater-inundated disaster zone.
On local television and social media, photographs of the storm’s wrath revealed that in some towns, floodwaters nearly reached the rooftops, swept away automobiles and destroyed homes, and twisted palm trees almost in half.
Firefighters and police officials have been bombarded with calls from those trapped in flooded homes, while others have posted on social media appealing for themselves or loved ones to be rescued after ignoring evacuation instructions and deciding to ride out the storm at home.
However, rescue teams have been unable to reach them owing to the gusts and flooding, according to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
A social media video depicts debris-filled water overflowing the ground floor of homes, pushing people to seek higher ground.
Brittany Hailer, a journalist in Pittsburgh, contacted rescuers on behalf of her mother, whose home in North Fort Myers was submerged by 5 feet of water.
We do not know when the water will recede. We do not know how they will depart, as their vehicles are totaled,’ added Hailer. Her only means of escape is by boat.
A hurricane warning remained in force from north of Bonita Beach to Anclote River, including Tampa Bay, and from Sebastian Inlet to the Flagler/Volusia county line.
Between Bonita Beach and Chokoloskee, the center canceled the hurricane warning. A tropical storm warning from Chokoloskee to Flamingo at the southwestern corner of the state was also canceled.
“This hurricane is wreaking havoc on the state of Florida,” said Governor Ron DeSantis, who requested President Joe Biden to authorize a large federal disaster declaration that would provide an extensive array of U.S. emergency relief to the whole state.
As of late Wednesday, no deaths were reported in the United States as a result of Ian. Wednesday, a boat carrying Cuban refugees sank in rough weather east of Key West.
As Hurricane Ian makes landfall in southern Florida on Wednesday in Fort Myers, Florida, a flooded main street can be observed.
A general picture of docks devastated by high waves, wind, and rain along the Caloosahatchee River in southeastern Florida as Hurricane Ian makes landfall.
A man walks among fallen palm leaves and debris on a downtown street in Fort Myers, Florida, as Hurricane Ian makes landfall in southern Florida.
Wednesday in Havana, Cuba, people play in the crashing surf at the Malecon in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
Officials reported that the U.S. Coast Guard launched a search and rescue mission for 23 persons and located three survivors around two miles south of the Florida Keys.
Four additional Cubans swam to Stock Island, just east of Key West, according to the United States Border Patrol. Air crews resumed their hunt for as many as twenty surviving migrants.
Previously, the storm ravaged Cuba, killing two people and knocking out the country’s power grid.
The center of the hurricane made landfall in Cayo Costa, a barrier island west of densely populated Fort Myers. As it neared, water from Tampa Bay drained away.
According to PowerOutage.us, more than 2 million Florida households and businesses were without electricity. In three counties, nearly every home and business was without power.
North of Fort Myers, the town of Punta Gorda was in near-total darkness after the storm knocked out power to all but a few buildings using generators.
Charlotte County Sheriff Bull Prummell, located just north of Fort Myers, ordered a curfew between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. ‘for life-saving purposes,’ stating that offenders will be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor.
Prummell stated, “I am implementing this curfew to safeguard the people and property of Charlotte County.”
On Friday, Weather Underground forecast the storm will pass near Daytona Beach, enter the Atlantic Ocean, and then return to South Carolina.
South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia have all proclaimed states of emergency in advance. Forecasters anticipated that Ian will shift toward these states as a tropical storm, bringing with him further flooding rainfall for the weekend.
Meanwhile, at 10 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, powerful winds and horizontal rains continued to batter Venice, Florida, a 25,000-person community located 32 miles northwest of where Ian initially landed on Cayo Costa seven hours earlier.
Small residential neighborhoods off of Highway 41, a significant thoroughfare in the region, were left in disarray, although larger structures remained largely intact.
Unseen asphalt was obscured by fallen trees and electrical lines, roofs were ripped off of some homes, and water appeared to be gushing through neighborhoods from every direction.
A vast open lot in front of a Winn Dixie supermarket turned into a lake, with water reaching the trunks of some parked automobiles. Large portions of the area were without power, and communications were almost difficult in several locations.
After battering Cuba on Tuesday, leaving the island nation without electricity for hours, Ian made landfall in Florida on Wednesday with peak wind gusts of 155 mph, just short of a Category 5 rating.
In certain locations, according to DeSantis, Hurricane Ian caused life-threatening storm surges – waves of wind-driven saltwater pouring in along the coast – of up to 12 feet. Additionally, forecasters warned of severe thunderstorms and possibly tornadoes.
Director of the National Weather Service Ken Graham stated, “This is a storm that will be talked about for many years to come, a historic event.”
In 2018, Hurricane Michael made landfall in the panhandle of Florida with sustained winds of 155 mph, while Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana with sustained winds of 150 mph.
Even as Hurricane Ian pummeled the shoreline prior to making landfall, authorities advised locals that it was too late to flee safely. More than 2.5 million households were advised to evacuate earlier this week.
Numerous residents of mobile homes sought safety in nearby schools and other emergency shelters. Numerous assisted-living facilities in the region were also mostly evacuated.