PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – Rescue crews piloted boats and waded through flooded streets to save thousands of Floridians trapped after Hurricane Ian destroyed homes and businesses and left millions in the dark.
The devastation began to come into focus a day after Ian made landfall in Florida as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the US, AP reported.
The storm flooded homes on both the state’s coasts, cut off the only bridge to a barrier island, destroyed a historic waterfront pier and knocked out electricity to 2.67 million Florida homes and businesses – nearly a quarter of utility customers. At least one man was confirmed dead.
Aerial photos from the Fort Myers area, a few miles west of where Ian struck land, showed homes ripped from their slabs and deposited among shredded wreckage.
Businesses near the beach were completely razed, leaving just twisted debris. Broken docks floated at odd angles beside damaged boats, and fires smoldered on lots where houses once stood.
“We´ve never seen storm surge of this magnitude,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told a news conference. “The amount of water that´s been rising, and will likely continue to rise even as the storm is passing, is basically a 500-year flooding event.”
Though downgraded to a tropical storm, the National Hurricane Center said storm surge and flooding rains remained a threat as Ian crept across the Florida peninsula and emerged in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cape Canaveral. Forecasters predicted Ian would regain strength while turning northward.
A hurricane warning was issued for the South Carolina coast, where the storm was expected to again make landfall.
