Hurricane Ian heads for Carolinas after pounding Florida

A revived Hurricane Ian acceptable its sights connected South Carolina's seashore Friday and the historical metropolis of Charleston, with forecasters predicting a tempest surge and floods aft the megastorm caused catastrophic harm successful Florida and near radical trapped successful their homes.

With each of South Carolina's seashore nether a hurricane warning, a dependable watercourse of vehicles near Charleston connected Thursday, galore apt heeding officials' warnings to question higher ground. Storefronts were sandbagged to ward disconnected precocious h2o levels successful an country prone to inundation.

Along the Battery country astatine the confederate extremity of the 350-year-old city's peninsula, locals and tourists alike took selfies against the choppy backdrop of whitecaps successful Charleston Harbor arsenic thenar trees bent successful the gusty wind.

With winds holding astatine 85 mph (140 kph), the National Hurricane Center's update astatine 2 a.m. Friday placed Ian astir 175 miles (285 km) southeast of Charleston and forecast a "life-threatening tempest surge" and hurricane conditions on the Carolina coastal country aboriginal Friday.

The hurricane informing stretched from the Savannah River to Cape Fear, with flooding rains apt crossed the Carolinas and southwestern Virginia, the halfway said.

An earlier forecast predicted a tempest surge of 5 feet (1.5 meters) into coastal areas of Georgia and the Carolinas. Rainfall of up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) threatened flooding from South Carolina to Virginia.

In Florida, rescue crews piloted boats and waded done riverine streets Thursday to prevention thousands of Floridians trapped amid flooded homes and buildings shattered by Hurricane Ian.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said astatine slightest 700 rescues, mostly by air, were conducted connected Thursday involving the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Guard and municipality search-and-rescue teams.

Ian had travel ashore Wednesday connected Florida's Gulf Coast arsenic a monstrous Category 4 hurricane, 1 of the strongest storms ever to deed the U.S. It flooded homes connected some the state's coasts, chopped disconnected the lone roadworthy entree to a obstruction island, destroyed a historical waterfront pier and knocked retired energy to 2.6 cardinal Florida homes and businesses — astir a 4th of inferior customers. Some 2.1 cardinal of those customers remained successful the acheronian days afterward.

Climate alteration added astatine slightest 10% much rainfall to Hurricane Ian, according to a survey prepared instantly aft the storm, said its co-author, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab clime idiosyncratic Michael Wehner.

At slightest 4 radical were confirmed dormant successful Florida, portion 3 different radical were reported killed successful Cuba aft the hurricane struck determination connected Tuesday.

In the Fort Myers area, the hurricane ripped homes from their slabs and deposited them among shredded wreckage. Businesses adjacent the formation were wholly razed, leaving twisted debris. Broken docks floated astatine unusual angles beside damaged boats. Fires smoldered connected tons wherever houses erstwhile stood.

"I don't cognize however anyone could person survived successful there," William Goodison said amid the wreckage of a mobile location parkland successful Fort Myers Beach wherever he'd lived for 11 years. Goodison said helium was live lone due to the fact that helium rode retired the tempest astatine his son's location inland.

The hurricane tore done the parkland of astir 60 homes, leaving galore destroyed oregon mangled beyond repair, including Goodison's single-wide home. Wading done waist-deep water, Goodison and his lad wheeled 2 trash cans containing what small helium could salvage — a portable aerial conditioner, immoderate tools and a shot bat.

The roadworthy into Fort Myers was littered with breached trees, vessel trailers and different debris. Cars were near abandoned successful the road, having stalled erstwhile the tempest surge flooded their engines.

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

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.

A chunk of the Sanibel Causeway fell into the sea, cutting disconnected entree to the obstruction land wherever 6,300 radical live.

Hours aft weakening to a tropical tempest portion crossing the Florida peninsula, Ian regained hurricane spot Thursday evening implicit the Atlantic. The National Hurricane Center predicted it would deed South Carolina arsenic a Category 1 hurricane Friday.

National Guard troops were being positioned successful South Carolina to assistance with the aftermath, including immoderate h2o rescues. And successful Washington, President Joe Biden approved an exigency declaration for the state, a needed measurement to velocity national assistance for betterment erstwhile Ian passes.

The tempest was connected way to aboriginal deed North Carolina, forecasters said. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper urged residents to hole for torrents of rain, precocious winds and imaginable powerfulness outages.

Visiting the state's exigency operations halfway Thursday, Cooper said that up to 7 inches (17.8 centimeters) of rainfall could autumn successful immoderate areas, with the imaginable for upland landslides and tornadoes statewide.