After Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida yesterday, officials are beginning to assess the tremendous damage from the storm.
The hurricane, which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm, has left millions without power and, according to one sheriff, the fatalities from the storm could reach into the hundreds.
From the Washington Examiner:
"Fatalities are in the hundreds," Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told Good Morning America on Thursday.
Ian was moving northeast across Florida at about 8 mph with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph at 5 a.m. Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center. However, the agency warned that Ian could pick back up and reach hurricane strength as it reaches Florida's east coast on Saturday, posing risks to Georgia and the Carolinas.
The NHC downgraded Hurricane Ian to tropical storm status early Thursday morning after the storm began to weaken gradually overnight Wednesday as it moved across central Florida.
The number of hundreds of fatalities is only an estimation at this point; no official numbers have been reported.
It's not yet clear how many fatalities or injuries have been sustained due to Ian, and there have not been any reports or numbers from state officials. During a news conference on Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said the reports of hundreds of fatalities have not been confirmed.
"I think you'll have more clarity on that in the next day or so," DeSantis said. "We have had two unconfirmed fatalities in the sense that we don't know they are linked to the storm. I mean, our assumption is that it likely is, so basically, the [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] will make that assessment, and that will be reported."
DeSantis added that the predicted death toll may just be a result of a higher volume of 911 calls that have not yet been resolved as first responders work to access houses that have been surrounded by water.
Let's pray that this estimate is off. We will know in the coming hours if the death toll is really in the hundreds.
Nothing is confirmed yet.
President Joe Biden declared a major disaster for Florida early Thursday morning, approving the distribution of federal aid to supplement recovery efforts in the aftermath of Ian. This federal assistance includes grants for temporary housing and home repairs, loans to insure property losses, and other programs to assist business owners in recovering from the storm's damage.
The federal government and DeSantis are working together fine for the time being. This natural disaster is one of the biggest in recent years for Florida.
According to the Miami Herald, Floridians aren't out of the woods yet as power has been lost to millions across Florida and it may be a long time before power is restored.
As a potent Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida, the top executive at Florida Power & Light warned residents in the storm's path to expect "life-changing effects" from widespread and catastrophic damage to the state's electrical grid that will take days, and in some cases weeks, to fully fix.
Speaking on a livestream from FPL's Palm Beach County emergency command center, President and CEO Eric Silagy said the company expects it will have to completely rebuild sections of its electrical system given Ian's massive size and powerful winds, as well as the extensive rainfall and flooding it's forecast to generate.
Silagy said that damage will not be limited to the coastal area taking a direct hit from Ian's eyewall on Wednesday afternoon, but will be seen along its full path as the storm thrashes its way across the state to the Atlantic Ocean, where it's expected to emerge Thursday.
They are going to have to completely rebuild infrastructure in some places. It isn't a simple matter of putting up more lines.
It might be weeks before some Floridians have power restored.
Pray for Florida as they continue to deal with this devastating storm.
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
