The category four storm, which has been lashing the south coast of the country and has pummeled Florida with gusts of 150 mph over the past 24 hours, is the fifth-strongest in its history.
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Hurricane Ian
Social media videos show streets entirely under water and homes being torn from their foundations in Florida, where 1.8 million people have been without electricity.
Before the storm arrived, residents in the state’s south-west were ordered to leave.
Fort Myers handyman Ian Hawver intended to wait out the storm.
He had to abandon his goal due to the hurricane’s overwhelming strength and instead drove to Fort Lauderdale across the state.
We were intending to stay, but we suddenly changed our minds when we awoke to 155 mph winds, he added.
“We don’t have a generator. I just don’t see the advantage of sitting there in the dark, in a hot house, watching water come into your house.”
Water began pouring into the building near the Caloosahatchee River, forcing news anchors at Fort Myers television station WINK to leave their customary desk and resume their storm coverage from another place in the office.
Jackson Boone ran away from his house near the Gulf coast and took refuge at his Venice law firm with his coworkers and their pets.
He described the devastation he saw, saying: “We have a 50+-year-old oak tree that has toppled over. We’re seeing tree damage, horizontal rain, and very severe wind.”
Ian keeps on its destructive route, though it is predicted that it will eventually intensify into a tropical storm.
It passed directly through Cuba on its way to the US, killing two people and shutting down the country’s electrical grid.
Governor Ron DeSantis acknowledged that many lives have been impacted by the storm’s destruction and thanked other states for their assistance.
At a news conference, he said: “I want to thank the 26 states, including Tennessee, Virginia, Montana, New York, Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, and Georgia, who have offered us support.
“Kat Ivey from Alabama and I just spoke, and she supports sending some Black Hawk aircraft down to assist.
“We are grateful that Tennessee Governor Bill Lee expedited a request we had.”
We’ve said, “Hey, we’ve had a lot of experience in hurricanes recently, so these guys are good, ask us we want to send more,” and they’ve helped out. We really appreciate that concern. I was also able to speak with John Bel Edwards from Louisiana.
Let us all pray for those victims of Hurricane Ian.