A path of destruction was left in southwest Florida by Hurricane Ian, which left people stranded in flooded homes, damaged the roof of a hospital intensive care unit, and cut electricity to 2 million people before it headed for the Atlantic coast.
The National Hurricane Center warned that one of the fiercest hurricanes ever to hit the United States was heading straight through the Florida peninsula overnight on Wednesday, with catastrophic floods inland.
According to a 2 a.m. statement from the National Hurricane Center, Ian was forecast to make landfall over the Atlantic Ocean later on Thursday, and floods in central and northern Florida would continue.
A doctor at a hospital in Port Charlotte along Florida’s Gulf Coast said that the storm surge swamped the hospital’s lower-level emergency room and that powerful winds tore part of the roof off of the hospital’s critical care unit.
Dr. Birgit Bodine of HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital explained that the hospital’s most critically ill patients, some of whom were on ventilators, had to be moved to other floors after water poured into the intensive care unit.
They tried to mop up the soaked mess with towels and plastic containers.
Patients had to be confined to two of the hospital’s four levels despite the fact that it is a medium-sized facility. Bodine intended to stay the night in case storm victims who were injured showed up in need of aid.
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No matter how things turn out, what important is that our patients are doing well “To quote Bodine:
Fort Myers law enforcement officers fielded calls from residents stranded in their houses by flooding and from concerned loved ones. Social media platforms were also used to make appeals, with some users posting videos of muddied water rushing up to people’s roofs.
When Brittany Hailer, a journalist in Pittsburgh, heard that her mother’s home in North Fort Myers had been inundated by 5 feet (1.5 meters) of water, she immediately reached out to rescue workers.
When the water level will drop is anyone’s guess. Their vehicles are wrecked, so we have no idea how they’re getting out, Hailer added. A boat is her sole means of escape.
Hurricane Ian blasted into southwest Florida on Wednesday with 150 mph (241 kph) winds, pushing a wall of storm surge that flooded neighborhoods and knocked down trees.
Category 4 winds upon landfall for Hurricane Ian made it the fifth-strongest hurricane to hit the United States.
As Ian made landfall late on Wednesday, its strength decreased to a Category 1 with 90 mph (144 kph) winds.
On Thursday, though, storm surges of up to 6 feet (2 meters) were predicted for northeast Florida.
At 2 a.m. on Thursday, the Miami-based hurricane center reported that the storm was located about 55 miles (90 km) southwest of Orlando and had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph).
There was still a hurricane warning in force from Sebastian Inlet in Flagler County to the Volusia County boundary to the north, and from Bonita Beach to the Anclote River in Hillsborough County, Florida (approximately 31 miles/50 km south of Fort Myers).
Warnings for hurricanes between Bonita Beach and Chokoloskee have been lifted by the center. Also lifted was a tropical storm watch that extended from Chokoloskee to Flamingo in the southwestern corner of the state.
The storm center predicted that hurricane-force winds will lash central Florida until early Thursday, making widespread, catastrophic flooding possible.
As of late Wednesday, there have been no confirmed deaths in the US due to Ian.
However, on Wednesday, a boat east of Key West that was transporting Cuban migrants capsized due to bad weather.
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About two miles (three kilometers) south of the Florida Keys, the US Coast Guard found three survivors after launching a search and rescue mission for 23 individuals.
US Border Patrol reports that four more Cubans made it to Stock Island east of Key West by swimming there. Flying crews kept looking for the 20 or so migrants who might still be missing.
Before, the hurricane ripped into Cuba, killing two individuals and knocking out the country’s power supply.
A barrier island west of Fort Myers’ dense population was where the hurricane’s eye made an impact. This island is known as Cayo Costa. Tampa Bay dried up as it came closer.
According to PowerOutage.us, over 2 million buildings in Florida were without power. Almost every building in three counties lost electricity.
For safety reasons, Sheriff Bull Prummell of Charlotte County, located north of Fort Myers, has imposed a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., with penalties including a misdemeanor of the second degree for violators.
By imposing this curfew, I hope to keep Charlotte County’s residents and their possessions safe “That’s what Prummell had to say.
On Friday, the storm was expected to re-emerge on the coast of South Carolina after having passed near Daytona Beach and continued out into the Atlantic.
South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia all made preventative emergency declarations.
They also anticipated that Ian, now a tropical storm, would head near those states, bringing with it more heavy rainfall and the risk of floods during the weekend.
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