Friday, May 3, 2024

Rapidly Intensifying: Hurricane Ian Could Strengthen To Category 5 Storm As It Approaches Florida

hurricane ian charlotte impact

More than 316,000 electric customers in the state had lost power as of just before 2 p.m. ET, before the storm officially made landfall, according to a tracker from poweroutage.us. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was scheduled to visit FEMA headquarters on Thursday to receive a briefing on federal response efforts related to Hurricane Ian.

Biden warns energy companies not to use Ian as an excuse to hike prices

Tampa, Fort Myers and Sarasota — all among the state's fastest-growing metropolitan areas — are within the range of predicted paths, the NHC said. Ian may bring a "life-threatening storm surge, catastrophic winds and flooding in the Florida peninsula," the hurricane center said in its 5 a.m. "We lose so many people after a storm because they get out and wander about, they drive into flooded roads, power lines might be down," he added. "I know you want to see what happened, I know you want to see if your house, your neighborhood is okay, but please stay inside until conditions allow you to safely move about."

Ian could become a hurricane again before hitting the southern East Coast

hurricane ian charlotte impact

Gov. Roy Cooper reminds residents that now is the time to complete their personal preparations. Sheriffs in southwest Florida said 911 centers were inundated by thousands of stranded callers, some with life-threatening emergencies. The U.S. Coast Guard began rescue efforts hours before daybreak on barrier islands near where Ian struck, DeSantis said. More than 800 federal urban search-and-rescuers were also in the area. More than 2.6 million people in Florida, or about 24% of utility customers, lost power because of the hurricane, according to the state Public Service Commission.

At one mobile home park, warnings blare but residents aren’t listening.

Fort Myers called off all city meetings and set up shelters for residents. According to the National Hurricane Center, the storm came ashore Wednesday afternoon near Cayo Costa with sustained winds of 150 mph. Well, the two that are open — Englewood Charlotte and Punta Gorda Charlotte libraries — they always have internet coverage, they have public WiFi when they're operating in normal times. So it really was just a matter of reopening the doors, doing the damage assessment, making sure they were secure. They didn't have any issues, and then opening the doors for the public.

It seems like the county has been working to try and lay on some extra capacity while people whose homes get reconnected. Mr. Ochoa said everyone was calling him on Wednesday to come work and help clean up the masses of broken tree branches that were now peppering the city. His car started up, despite having spent the night in standing water, but it was still surrounded by water and he was unable to move it. Airbnb offers refunds for a number of “events beyond your control,” including natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions.

Some Florida cities are suspending municipal services in preparation for the storm

The damage in Charlotte and Lee County is extensive enough that power infrastructure will require significant rebuilding, the governor added. But that’s going to be more than just connecting a power line back to a pole,” he said. The White House said in a statement that Biden told the governor he will be sending FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell to Florida on Friday "to check in on response efforts and see where additional support is needed." President Biden spoke with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday morning to discuss federal support for the state's response to Hurricane Ian. "Once the storm clears, we do have crews as far away as Alabama and Georgia and up in the Carolinas and from the West, who are going to be ready to then funnel in to the affected area once ... it's safe to do so," Aaronson said.

Your flight was canceled because of the storm. What now?

Flash flooding and strengthening winds have combined to create hazards making it no longer safe to be on the road, Hillsborough officials said in an email Wednesday morning. The outer eyewall of Ian has reached Florida's Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Many had mandatory evacuation notices, though officials in some areas warned residents who stayed behind not to try to leave Thursday morning, as the hurricane was by then too close to make travel safe. The category 4 storm's high winds could produce destructive waves and storm surge as high as 16 feet from Englewood to Bonita Beach.

hurricane ian charlotte impact

Hurricane Ian damage, impact in cities across Florida - Tallahassee Democrat

Hurricane Ian damage, impact in cities across Florida.

Posted: Thu, 29 Sep 2022 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The footage they're sharing on social media helps convey the scope of the destruction. ET advisory Thursday, the National Hurricane Center says Ian regained hurricane status with sustained winds of 75 mph. Parts of Florida’s power grid will need to be rebuilt after Hurricane Ian flooded some areas with storm surges of up to 12 feet, according to Florida Power & Light, the state’s biggest power utility.

The estimate, he added, will change when Citizens gets more information after the storm. Insurance companies and analysts said it was far too early to estimate the property damage from the storm, but they offered a sense of what they were expecting. So, on Wednesday night, they would sleep on cots on a gymnasium floor.

There is still rain in the forecast for Saturday, but no longer a flooding risk. "The southern portion of Estero Island contains multiple saltwater marshes," said Leanne Hauptman, first author and a Ph.D. student in FAU's Department of Geosciences. "Because of these saltwater marshes, storm-wave energy may been substantially dissipated by friction by the time the waves reached the barrier interior, potentially lessening the impact on the structures in that area." The Category 4 storm made landfall in September of 2022 causing significant damage across the state including here on the Suncoast. People in the Florida Keys already felt the effect of the hurricane as it passed through the west of the island chain with some residents of Key West reporting flooding.

Hurricane Ian statistics show why it will come to be known as 'The Big One' - ABC News

Hurricane Ian statistics show why it will come to be known as 'The Big One'.

Posted: Fri, 30 Sep 2022 07:00:00 GMT [source]

"Instead of an arrow, we have hazard events like hurricanes and tornadoes. Instead of having targets, we are the targets — our cities, our developed areas. And nowhere is that more readily seen than along our coastlines," Strader said. "A lot has happened overnight and early this morning, and unfortunately, none of it is good news," Jamie Rhome said by way of opening remarks. Key West International Airport, Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, and Tampa International Airport are all closed to the public. “Breaks in the weather do not mean the storm has passed,” Pinellas officials said. Do not attempt to relocate to a county emergency shelter or any other location.

Conditions will continue to rapidly deteriorate as the storm roars ashore. The catastrophic storm has lashed southwest Florida all day long, bringing non-stop winds and a torrent of waters flooding in from the Gulf of Mexico. Even though the eye of Ian has officially come ashore, it will continue to smack the region for hours before it makes its way slowly inland at just 9 mph. This kind of thinking is worrying public safety officials across inland Florida.

Late Wednesday, city officials said there had been no reports of injuries or deaths in Cape Coral, but the toll of the storm was still unclear. Police officers, firefighters and medics were not responding to 911 calls on Wednesday until the winds eased off. In the wealthy coastal enclave of Naples, a resident said he had three feet of water in his home. A First Alert has been issued for Friday through Sunday, with multiple rounds of heavy rain possible, which could cause localized flooding issues. Gusty winds of 35 mph or higher are possible, as the remnants of what is now Hurricane Ian, is expected to move closer to the Carolinas. High temperatures will be in the upper 60s to lower 70s Friday through Sunday for the piedmont, with weekend high temperatures around 60 degrees for the mountains.

You can follow the North Carolina Emergency Management on Twitter and Facebook, as well as the websites and social media pages of your county government and emergency management. You can follow the South Carolina Emergency Management Division on Twitter and Facebook, as well as the websites and social media pages of your county government and emergency management. You can follow the Georgia Emergency Management agency on Twitter and Facebook, as well as the websites and social media pages of your county government and emergency management. “If you haven’t yet made plans for every contingency, this afternoon is the time to do so,” McMaster said.

Ian’s strength at landfall tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane when measured by wind speed to strike the U.S. Among the other storms was Hurricane Charley, which hit nearly the same spot on Florida’s coast in August 2004, killing 10 people and inflicting $14 billion in damage. Using remote sensing technology, Florida Atlantic University researchers have developed a novel technique that provides rapid, high-resolution assessments of detailed damage after a hurricane. Using aerial imagery data and LiDAR, they identified the hardest-hit areas of Southwest Florida's Estero Island and estimated the extent of structural damage.

Some coastal regions of Florida are expected to face life threatening storm surges as much as 18 feet high while other regions of the state remain at risk of flash flooding, the National Hurricane Center’s report added. Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm with 65-mph winds early Thursday as Florida braced for storm surges, flooding and wind damage. The storm returned to hurricane force the same day, then made landfall again Friday in South Carolina. The hurricane hit in September 2022, causing damage for more than half a million of the state's residents.

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