The authorities of Florida reported this Saturday 53 deaths from the hurricane Ian while the governor of North Carolina reported four confirmed deaths from the powerful cyclone, which has so far left no fatalities in South Carolina.
According to the Medical Examiners Commission of FloridaUntil this Saturday, 53 deaths had been reported from Ianthe largest number of them in Lee County, on the southwest coast of this state, the most impacted area and where the hurricane made landfall last Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of 240 km / h.
For his part, the Governor of North CarolinaRoy Cooper, reported today that four deaths have been recorded so far, three of them due to vehicle accidents that occurred on Friday due to weather conditions caused by Ianwhich that day made landfall in neighboring South Carolina and shortly therefollowing downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone.
In that state no deaths have been reported, according to its governor, Henry McMaster, who said that electricity has been almost completely restored. “There’s some damage, some heartbreak, there’s work to be done. But overall, it’s a good story,” McMaster summed up.
In Florida on the contrary, the story is very different, where this Saturday, three days following the impact of the cyclone, more than 10,000 people still remain in shelters erected by the authorities, officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency told the media ( FEMA) displaced in the area.
They added that they continue to carry out rescue operations for people who are still trapped in their homes, especially on the islands of Sanibel and the town of Latchala, where there is still no drinking water, electricity or basic infrastructure.
One of those who survived Ian It was George Luty, a resident of the Oyster Bay mobile park, on San Carlos Island, which is part of Fort Myers Beach.
This 44-year-old man told Efe that he had to dive to escape his flooded home as a result of the rise in sea level (in parts up to more than four meters) due to the storm surge.
“I was crouched on my porch for hours, never in my life was I so scared. I really thought I was going to die,” he confessed.
According to data from the governor’s office FloridaRon DeSantis, as of this morning, more than a thousand rescues had been carried out.
In Lee County, where these communities and the entire Fort Myers area are located, and where its authorities today reported 35 deaths, 73% of its population remained without electricity as of this noon, although the restoration process is being carried out at quick steps, as DeSantis said.
Executives from FPL, the leading energy company in FloridaThey said that in the first 48 hours following the impact of the hurricane, the power restoration process has exceeded what they achieved five years ago, when Hurricane Irma hit this state and the firm reached a record.
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He added that they have been taken to the southwest of Florida more than 1.6 million gasoline and that more than 1,300 miles of roads have been enabled.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) pointed out that the post-tropical cyclone can produce up to 100 milliliters of rain today over the center of the Appalachian mountain range, that is, in areas of Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia, where They can cause flooding and strong gusts of wind.
Meteorologists estimate that Ian it might dissipate in the course of this followingnoon or evening, while moving over the state of Virginia.
