L’ouragan Ian a touché terre vendredi près de Georgetown, en Caroline du Sud, avec des vents soufflant à 140 km/h, alors que le nombre de morts confirmées et de dommages en Floride continuait de grimper.
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La tempête est entrée près de Georgetown avec une puissance de catégorie 1. L’ouragan s’est rapidement transformé en cyclone post-tropical, mais le Centre national des ouragans des États-Unis (NHC) a prévenu la population que les vents violents et les ondes de tempête demeuraient dangereux.
À environ 175 kilomètres au sud-est de Charleston, Ian générait des vents soutenus de 140 km/h, selon le NHC. « Il y a un danger d’onde de tempête potentiellement mortelle [vendredi] evening along the Carolina Coast in storm surge warning areas,” the Center warned on social media.
The rain whipped power lines across the peninsula in downtown Charleston and left many areas flooded. Thousands of people had to leave the historic center to take refuge inland. On the coast, business owners have piled sandbags in front of doors and windows in the hope of avoiding the worst.
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PHOTO ALEX BRANDON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A firefighter examines a fallen tree on the roadway in Charleston.
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PHOTO ALEX BRANDON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A cyclist crosses a flooded intersection closed by police in Folly Island, South Carolina.
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PHOTO ALEX BRANDON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brave surfers could be spotted enjoying the waves at Folly Island.
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PHOTO ALEX BRANDON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A pump was installed to evacuate the water accumulated on the Batterypromenade famous for its monuments and historic houses.
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In Myrtle Beach, two piers collapsed under the waves and neighborhoods filled with water in Garden City. In Florida, the communities of Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Sanibel Island were particularly affected by the storm.
“I saw it all happen. Homes are floating in the bay, people are on their roofs,” Fort Myers Beach resident Kevin Behen told CNN.
Everyone is going through a really bad time right now. It is unimaginable to see 25 feet of water pouring in. It was as if a dam had broken, it took everything away.
Kevin Behen, resident of Fort Myers Beach
As of Friday night, more than two million customers were without power in the southeastern United States, the PowerOutage.us website reported.
PHOTO RICARDO ARDUENGO, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Many businesses and residential buildings were destroyed in Fort Myers, Florida
Up to $47 billion
The passage of the hurricane Ian could cost insurers up to 47 billion US dollars and will weigh on US growth, according to initial estimates.
Wind-related losses on residential and commercial properties are expected to cost insurers between $22 billion and $32 billion, while flood-related losses could cost $6 billion to $15 billion, specialist firm CoreLogic said.
“This is the costliest storm in Florida since hurricane andrew made landfall in 1992, and a record number of homes and properties were lost due to the intensity and destructive power of the hurricane Ian a CoreLogic official commented in a statement released Thursday.
Florida death toll rises
Currently, hurricane Ian killed at least 27 people during its stay in Florida, according to authorities. Several deaths by drowning were confirmed Friday afternoon.
A 68-year-old woman was swept away by the ocean and a 22-year-old woman was ejected from an ATV when a road collapsed in Manatee, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said. . A 71-year-old man also died from head injuries sustained from a fall from a roof while installing rain shutters on Wednesday.
PHOTO JOHN RAOUX, ASSOCIATED PRESS
University of Central Florida students are evacuated by boat as residences near campus were completely flooded by the storm.
The US Coast Guard has rescued more than 275 people in Florida since the hurricane made landfall in the region. “The areas we fly over and where we operate are unrecognizable. There are no traffic signs. The places no longer look like they used to. Buildings that were once landmarks in the community are no longer there,” Rear Admiral Brendan McPherson told CNN on Friday.
State Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed that rescuers had visited some 3,000 homes in Florida’s southwest coast region, where the damage is most severe.
PHOTO DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD, TAMPA BAY TIMES/ASSOCIATED PRESS
A section of road was demolished in Sanibel, Florida during the hurricane.
On Thursday afternoon, President Joe Biden said that Ian “could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida history”. It should also be remembered that in September 1928, hurricane Okeechobee had killed 1,500 to 2,500 people in Florida alone, according to estimates from various websites. The storm had notably decimated the Lake Okeechobee community, just west of West Palm Beach.
With Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press