Hurricane Ian causes ‘catastrophic flooding’ in Florida – rts.ch

According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), Hurricane Ian, considered “very dangerous,” made landfall in Florida on Wednesday afternoon. It has already caused “catastrophic” flooding.

Coastal areas of southwest Florida were largely in the dark early Thursday after Hurricane Ian wreaked havoc with rare intensity. It caused devastating floods and widespread power outages.

A boat carrying migrants capsized in rough conditions near the Keys archipelago, not far from the hurricane’s path, and the Coast Guard was still searching for 20 people, three rescued and four able to swim ashore.

Ian, packing winds of 240 km/h, made landfall on the coast of Cayo Costa in the southwest of the state at 3pm local time (9pm in Switzerland), the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. ) The cyclone, described as “very dangerous”, caused “catastrophic” flooding, the center said.

Previously classified as a Category 3, out of 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, Ion has been downgraded to a Category 1, still packing winds of 120 km/h and causing “possible” flooding, the NHC announced Thursday morning.

Darkness

More than 2 million homes were without power in Florida Thursday morning, out of a total of 11 million, mainly around the hurricane’s path, according to the specialized site PowerOutage. According to the site, several counties near where Ian made landfall were almost completely without power.

Ian is expected to reach millions of people in Florida as well as Georgia and South Carolina. The city of Punta Gorda was plunged into darkness. At night, only a few buildings equipped with generators were lit, and the only sounds were the roar of the wind and the pouring rain.

A few hours ago, the city found itself in the eye of the hurricane and got a brief respite. But the rain and the rain came back with even more force, overturning road boards and lashing pieces of roofs and tree branches.

In Naples, southwest Florida, images from MSNBC showed completely flooded streets and cars floating in the current. In Fort Myers, a city of more than 80,000 people, the flooding was so severe that some neighborhoods looked like lakes. State Governor Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday evening that the floodwaters would be over 3 meters at times.

The weather event should move inland during the day and emerge over the western Atlantic by Thursday evening, the NHC said.

“Very Dangerous”

About 2.5 million people in a dozen coastal Florida counties received mandatory evacuation orders, and other counties recommended voluntary evacuations.

This will be one of the five strongest hurricanes to hit Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis said Wednesday evening. “This is a storm that has been talked about for years,” NWS Director Ken Graham said at a news conference.

FEMA (Federal Disaster Relief Agency) director Deanne Criswell said Ian will continue to be a “very dangerous” storm “in the coming days.”

About 3,200 National Guard members have been called to Florida, and another 1,800 are on the way, according to the Pentagon.

intensification

Hurricane Ian hit Cuba earlier on Tuesday, killing two people and plunging the island into darkness. On Wednesday, power was restored to some residents in Havana and 11 other provinces, but not in the three hardest-hit provinces in the country’s west.

>> Pictures taken after Ian’s visit to Cuba:

Florida / Video News / Hurricane Ian becomes a Category 4 as it approaches in 53 seconds. / Yesterday at 12:38

As the surface of the oceans warms, with stronger winds and more precipitation, the frequency of more intense hurricanes increases, but not the total number of hurricanes.

According to Gary Luckman, a professor of atmospheric sciences at North Carolina State University in the US, several studies have demonstrated a “potential link” between climate change and an “increasingly rapid” phenomenon – when the tropics are relatively weak. A storm can strengthen to a Category 3 or higher hurricane within 24 hours, as Ian did.

ats/doe

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