Floods trap many in Florida as Ian heads to South Carolina

Rescue crews piloted boats and waded done flooded streets Thursday to prevention thousands of Floridians trapped aft Hurricane Ian destroyed homes and businesses and near millions successful the dark.

The demolition began to travel into absorption a time aft Ian made landfall successful Florida arsenic 1 of the strongest hurricanes ever to deed the U.S. The tempest flooded homes connected some of the state's coasts, chopped disconnected the lone span to a obstruction island, destroyed a historical waterfront pier and knocked retired energy to 2.67 cardinal Florida homes and businesses — astir a 4th of inferior customers. At slightest 1 antheral was confirmed dead.

Aerial photos from the Fort Myers area, a fewer miles westbound of wherever Ian struck land, showed homes ripped from their slabs and deposited successful a jumble among shredded wreckage. Businesses adjacent the formation were wholly razed, leaving conscionable twisted debris. Broken docks floated astatine unusual angles beside damaged boats, and fires smoldered connected tons wherever houses erstwhile stood.

"We've ne'er seen tempest surge of this magnitude," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told a quality conference. "The magnitude of h2o that's been rising, and volition apt proceed to emergence contiguous adjacent arsenic the tempest is passing, is fundamentally a 500-year flooding event."

Though downgraded to a tropical tempest by Thursday morning, the National Hurricane Center said tempest surge and flooding rains remained a menace arsenic Ian crept crossed the Florida peninsula and emerged successful the Atlantic Ocean northbound of Cape Canaveral. Forecasters predicted Ian would regain immoderate spot portion turning northward.

A hurricane informing was issued for the South Carolina coast, wherever the tempest was expected to again marque landfall, having already deed Cuba and Florida.

Sheriffs successful southwest Florida said 911 centers were inundated by thousands of stranded callers, immoderate with life-threatening emergencies. The U.S. Coast Guard began rescue efforts hours earlier daybreak connected obstruction islands adjacent wherever Ian struck, DeSantis said. More than 800 members of national municipality search-and-rescue teams were besides successful the area.

In the Orlando area, Orange County firefighters utilized boats to scope radical successful a flooded neighborhood. A photograph the section posted connected Twitter showed 1 firefighter carrying idiosyncratic successful his arms done knee-deep water. At an country nursing home, patients were carried connected stretchers crossed floodwaters to a waiting bus.

Firefighters connected boats and National Guard soldiers successful a gangly motortruck rescued Joseph Agboona and his neighbors aft h2o roseate to the windows successful his Orlando home.

"We were blessed to get out," said Agboona, who grabbed 2 bags of possessions, not knowing what volition beryllium near erstwhile helium yet returns. "It was very, precise bad."

In Fort Myers, Valerie Bartley's household spent hopeless hours Wednesday holding a eating country array against their patio door, fearing the tempest raging extracurricular "was tearing our location apart."

"I was terrified," Bartley said. "What we heard was the shingles and debris from everything successful the vicinity hitting our house."

She said her 4-year-old girl grabbed her manus and said: "I'm frightened too, but it's going to beryllium OK." The miss was right. The tempest ripped distant patio screens and snapped a thenar histrion successful the yard, Bartley said, but near the extortion intact and her household unharmed.

Authorities confirmed astatine slightest 1 Florida decease — a 72-year-old antheral successful Deltona who fell into a canal portion utilizing a hose to drain his excavation successful the dense rain, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said. Two different tempest deaths were reported successful Cuba.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said his bureau was scrambling to respond to thousands of 911 calls, but galore roads and bridges successful Fort Myers and the surrounding country were impassable.

"It crushed us," Marceno told ABC's "Good Morning America." "We inactive cannot entree galore of the radical that are successful need."

Emergency crews sawed done toppled trees to scope stranded people. Many successful the hardest-hit areas were incapable to telephone for assistance due to the fact that of electrical and cellular outages.

"Portable towers are connected the mode for compartment service. Chances are your loved ones bash not person quality to interaction you," said the sheriff's bureau successful Collier County, which includes Naples. "We tin archer you arsenic daylight reveals the aftermath, it's going to beryllium a hard day."

Christine Bomlitz was incapable to scope her parent by telephone aft the tempest made landfall southbound of Englewood, wherever the 84-year-old pistillate lives successful a status community. Bomlitz said her parent was expected to evacuate but was ne'er picked up. So the anxious girl from Las Vegas posted a plea for assistance connected societal media.

Some Good Samaritans replied and came to her assistance Thursday, 1 of them wading successful chest-deep floodwaters successful her mother's vicinity to execute a payment check. Relieved that her parent had weathered the storm, Bomlitz was moving to put a vessel rescue.

"I'm thankful for this stranger, a full stranger," Bomlitz said. "People are amazing."

A chunk of the Sanibel Causeway fell into the sea, cutting disconnected entree to the obstruction land wherever 6,300 radical usually live. It was chartless however galore heeded orders to evacuate, but Charlotte County Emergency Management Director Patrick Fuller expressed cautious optimism that worst-case scenarios mightiness not person been realized.

No deaths oregon injuries person been confirmed successful the county, and flyovers of obstruction islands amusement "the integrity of the homes is acold amended than we anticipated," Fuller said.

South of Sanibel Island, the historical beachfront pier successful Naples was destroyed, with adjacent the pilings underneath torn out, arsenic towering waves crashed implicit the structure. "Right now, determination is nary pier," said Penny Taylor, a Collier County commissioner.

In Port Charlotte, a hospital's exigency country flooded and fierce winds ripped distant portion of the roof, sending h2o gushing into the intensive attraction unit. The sickest patients — immoderate connected ventilators — were crowded into the mediate 2 floors arsenic the unit prepared for tempest victims to arrive, said Dr. Birgit Bodine of HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital.

The Florida Highway Patrol unopen down the Florida Turnpike successful the Orlando country and said the main artery successful the mediate of the authorities volition stay closed until h2o subsides.

Ian struck Florida arsenic a monstrous Category 4 storm, with 150 mph (241 kph) winds that tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane ever to deed the U.S.

Even aft weakening, Ian's tropical storm-force winds inactive reached 415 miles (667 kilometers) from its center. Forecasters predicted the Atlantic waters would fortify it to a Category 1 hurricane earlier it makes landfall Friday successful South Carolina.

The National Hurricane Center warned tempest surge of 6 feet (1.83 meters) oregon much was imaginable from Daytona Beach, Florida, to northbound of Charleston, South Carolina. Rainfall of up to 8 inches (20.32 centimeters) threatened flooding successful the Carolinas and Virginia.

"It doesn't substance what the strength of the tempest is. We're inactive expecting rather a spot of rainfall," Robbie Berg, elder hurricane specializer with the National Hurricane Center, said successful an interrogation with The Associated Press.

The U.S. Coast Guard initiated a hunt and rescue ngo for 23 people after a vessel carrying Cuban migrants sank Wednesday successful stormy upwind eastbound of Key West. It recovered 3 survivors, and 4 others swam to shore, the U.S. Border Patrol said. Air crews continued to hunt for perchance 20 remaining migrants.