Strong winds and entire neighborhoods under water. Hurricane Ian, classified in category 4 out of 5 at the height of its activity, ravaged part of the State of Florida (United States) on Wednesday September 28. Entire towns were left without power and a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Florida. On social networks, residents of the region and meteorologists have shared images of these long hours of anguish.
Hurricane Ian made landfall along the coast of Cayo Costa, in the southwest of the state, around 3 p.m. Wednesday (9 p.m. in Paris), according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC). Torrential rains caused flooding “catastrophic”, said the center. In Fort Myers, the streets were totally flooded in less than an hour, as shown in this time-lapse video from a webcam installed in the city.
I’ve been capturing video from this webcam in Fort Myers all day and I’ve put it into a Timelapse. Check out the storm surge rushing in! Crazy. #ian #flwx pic.twitter.com/lj7a1wThga
— Brennan Prill (@WxBrenn) September 28, 2022
Also in Fort Myers, a camera installed about 1.80m high captured the moment when a district of the city found itself trapped by the waves. The material toll is not yet known, but dozens of vehicles were swept away by the torrents of muddy water according to the local press.
*RARE* first person view of storm surge. This camera is 6 feet off the ground on Estero Blvd in Fort Myers Beach, FL. Not sure how much longer it keeps working. You’ll see it live only on@weatherchannel #ian pic.twitter.com/WwHtvgVxjY
—Mike Bettes (@mikebettes) September 28, 2022
In the same region, in Naples, garages and shops were quickly flooded. The flood could sometimes exceed 3 meters, announced Wednesday evening the governor of the State, Ron DeSantis. “This is a storm that will be talked about for many years to come”also declared the director of the American weather services (NWS), Ken Graham, during a press conference.
Water rushes into a parking garage at Pelican Bay in Naples.
:Jeffrey Kepka pic.twitter.com/epAmHzIdrj
— ABC7 News (@ABC7SWFL) September 28, 2022
The powerful winds carried by Hurricane Ian caused extensive damage across South Florida. First infrastructure affected: the electricity network, and in particular the overhead lines as in Naples, where the fall of an electric cable created a small explosion. Falling trees also destroyed vehicles. More than 2 million homes were without electricity Wednesday evening in Florida, according to the specialized site PowerOutage. They were still Thursday morning.
Power line explodes in Napoli. #HurricaneIan #flwx pic.twitter.com/bGgfHFwTJJ
—Scott McClellan (@DSM4USA) September 28, 2022
The crew of the Kermit, a science aircraft from the the American Agency for Oceanic and Atmospheric Observation (NOAA), saw all the colors during its study mission in the heart of the storm. “It was the most eventful flight of my careerassured Nick Underwood, engineer on board this device. I’ve never seen bunks eject like this. There was coffee everywhere. I’ve never felt so much lateral movement.” Through the portholes, the researcher was able to film a large number of flashes while immortalizing the turbulence.
When I say this was the roughest flight of my career so far, I mean it. I have never seen the bunks come out like that. There was coffee everywhere. I have never felt such lateral motion.
Aboard Kermit (#NOAA42) this morning into Hurricane #ian. Please stay safe out there. https://t.co/DQwqBwAE6v pic.twitter.com/gvV7WUJ6aS
—Tropical Nick Underwood (@TheAstroNick) September 28, 2022
This type of flight, very perilous, is used to carry out surveys and to learn more about how hurricanes form and evolve. “I’m happy that I only had to make one pass [à travers la tempête]“, said Nick Underwood on Twitter. In the early morning, Hurricane Ian was finally downgraded to category 1, authorities announced, but it still constitutes a storm “very dangerous” for “the coming days” warned theFederal Disaster Relief Agency (FEMA).