After making landfall on Florida’s west coast on Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane, Ian gradually weakened to a tropical storm while crossing the Florida peninsula before regaining strength over the Atlantic Ocean as a Category 1 hurricane on Thursday afternoon as it heads toward South Carolina.
Ian is expected to cross the coast of South Carolina on Friday as a Category 1 hurricane. Hurricane warnings have been issued for the entire coast of the state. According to the National Hurricane Center, life-threatening flooding, storm surge, and strong winds are possible.
“Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 75 mph (120 km/h) with higher gusts. Ian could slightly strengthen before landfall tomorrow, and is forecast to rapidly weaken over the southeastern United States late Friday into Saturday,” the center said in a hurricane advisory on Thursday at 5 p.m. local time.
Earlier on Thursday, officials reported the first confirmed death. More deaths have been reported since, with some outlets putting the current death toll at nine, while other reports say at least 15 people have died in southwest and central Florida.
In this aerial view, boats sit grounded in a woodland area and along the side of the road after being pushed by rising water from Hurricane Ian near Fort Myers Beach in San Carlos Island, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2022. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The true death toll could be “in the hundreds” but is yet to be confirmed, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said on Thursday morning in an interview with “Good Morning America.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis later said the death toll estimate was likely based on 911 calls.
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 members of federal urban search-and-rescue teams were also in the area.
Aftermath
President Joe Biden said Thursday that early reports indicate there “may be substantial loss of life,” although the death toll is “still unclear.”
Search and rescue efforts are underway after the hurricane trapped Florida residents in homes and buildings and knocked out electricity to some 2.67 million homes and businesses in the state, which accounts for nearly a quarter of utility customers.
Florida Power and Light (FPL), a unit of Florida energy company NextEra Energy, said on Thursday it had restored service to almost 700,000 customers affected by Ian. However, it said that it “anticipates some customers will face prolonged outages because portions of the electric system in Southwest Florida will need to be rebuilt rather than repaired.” The power utility said that it has dedicated more than 20,000 restoration personnel to restoring power outages caused by Ian.
