Thursday, March 28

Hurricane Ian weakens in the southeastern US after leaving at least 23 dead


Updated

Some 575,000 homes and businesses were without power Friday night in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.

Heavy machinery to alleviate the effects of the hurricane in South Carolina.Alex BrandonAP

Storm Ian lost strength this Saturday as it passed through the southeastern United States and is expected to dissipate overnightafter having caused flooding in south carolina Y devastated much of Floridaa, where it has left at least 23 dead.

The authorities of this state reported Friday night that the storm had left 23 dead, although some media say the figure is higher. The CNN television network raises the figure to 45 dead.

After rampaging through Florida, Ian arrived on Friday in the afternoon to South Carolina as category 1 hurricane, with winds of up to 140 km/h, according to the National Hurricane Center (CNH). It then weakened to a post-tropical storm.

On Saturday morning, its winds dropped to about 50 km/h as it passed North Carolina, the NHC reported.

Ian “should dissipate over south-central Virginia” on Saturday night, the center predicted, though the risk of “moderate” rainfall and flooding remains in central Appalachia and the northeastern United States.

The US president, Joe Biden, urged citizens to heed the alert calls from local authorities, such as in South Carolina, where they asked not to drive on flooded roads.

“This is a dangerous storm bringing strong winds and lots of water, but the most dangerous will be human error. Be smart, make good decisions, check on your loved ones and stay safe,” Governor Henry McMaster tweeted.

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Some 575,000 households and businesses They were Without eleectricity Friday night in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, according to the specialized website PowerOutage.

“Historic” damage in Florida

In Florida, in addition to the high number of human casualties, material damage is “historical” due to flooding unprecedented, according to Governor Ron DeSantis. On Friday, in Kissimmee, not far from Orlando, authorities will scour the flooded areas in boats to rescue residents trapped in their homes.

“We are just beginning to see the magnitude of the destruction … which is probably among the worst” in US history, Biden said. “Rebuilding will take months, years,” he said.

More than 1.4 million Florida customers were still without power Friday night, two days after Ian hit, according to PowerOutage.

In the coastal city of Fort Myers, the “epicenter” according to Ron DeSantis, a handful of restaurants and bars had reopened and dozens of people were sitting on terraces, an image of apparent normality amid broken trees and destroyed houses.

“It was terrible, but we got over it. The roof of our house was blown off, a big tree fell on our cars, our yard was flooded, but other than that everything is fine,” said Dylan Gamber, 23.

According to early estimates, Hurricane Ian could cost insurers tens of billions of dollars and weigh on US growthespecially due to flight cancellations and damage to agricultural production.

Meanwhile, the search continues for the 17 passengers on a migrant boat that capsized Wednesday near the Florida Keys.

According to a scientific study published on Friday, climate change increased the rains left by Ian by more than 10%. “Climate change didn’t cause the hurricane, but it did make it wetter,” said Michael Wehner of the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, one of the scientists involved in the study. Before Florida, Ian passed through Cuba, where he left three dead, extensive damage and power outages.

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