A revived Hurricane Ian battered coastal South Carolina on Friday, ripping apart piers and filling neighborhoods with calf-high water, after the deadly storm caused catastrophic damage in Florida and trapped thousands in their homes.Here’s the latest on Hurricane Ian: Hurricane Ian made landfall near Georgetown, South Carolina, around 2 p.m. ET Friday as Category 1 storm.Ian has been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, according to the NHC’s 5 p.m. advisory.Death toll has reached 17 people in the U.S. as Florida authorities confirm several drownings and other fatalities.Ian hits South CarolinaHurricane Ian made landfall near Georgetown, South Carolina, around 2 p.m. ET Friday as a Category 1 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center. Its maximum sustained winds remained at 85 mph with higher gusts.Sheets of rain whipped trees and power lines and left many areas on Charleston’s downtown peninsula under water. Four piers along the coast, including two at Myrtle Beach, collapsed into the churning waves and washed away. Online cameras showed seawater filling neighborhoods in Garden City to calf level.Video: Myrtle Beach reports first signs of storm damage as Ian approachesThe hurricane warning stretched from the Savannah River to Cape Fear, with flooding likely across the Carolinas and southwestern Virginia, the center said. The forecast predicted a storm surge of up to 7 feet into coastal areas of the Carolinas, and rainfall of up to 8 inches.LATEST CONELATEST MODELSLATEST SATELLITEA hurricane warning was issued for the South Carolina coast and extended to Cape Fear on the southeastern coast of North Carolina. With tropical storm-force winds reaching about 415 miles from its center, the NHC expects a life-threatening storm surge of up to 7 feet and hurricane conditions along the Carolina coast by Friday afternoon. Rainfall of up to 8 inches threatened flooding from South Carolina to Virginia.Video below: Winds, rain pick up off the coast of Georgia’s Tybee IslandFlorida’s rescue effortIn Florida, rescue crews piloted boats and waded through riverine streets Thursday to save thousands of people trapped amid flooded homes and buildings shattered by Hurricane Ian.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said rescue crews have gone door-to-door to over 3,000 homes in the hardest-hit areas.”There’s really been a Herculean effort,” he said Friday during a news conference in Tallahassee.Video: Florida governor gives update on Ian’s damageClimate change added at least 10% more rain to Hurricane Ian, according to a study prepared immediately after the storm, said its co-author, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab climate scientist Michael Wehner.The U.S. death toll from Hurricane Ian has risen to 17 as Florida authorities on Friday afternoon confirmed several drowning deaths and other fatalities.The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said the deaths included a 22-year-old woman who was ejected from an ATV rollover on Friday because of a road washout in Manatee County and a 71-year-old man who died of head injuries when he fell off a roof while putting up rain shutters on Wednesday. Many of the other deaths were drownings, including a 68-year-old woman who was swept into the ocean by a wave.Video: WESH reporter talks about water rescueAt least three people were reported killed in Cuba after the hurricane struck there on Tuesday.In the Fort Myers area, businesses near the beach were completely razed, leaving twisted debris. Broken docks floated at odd angles beside damaged boats. Fires smoldered on lots where houses once stood.”I don’t know how anyone could have survived in there,” William Goodison said amid the wreckage of a mobile home park in Fort Myers Beach where he’d lived for 11 years. Goodison said he was alive only because he rode out the storm at his son’s house inland.The hurricane tore through the park of about 60 homes, leaving many destroyed or mangled beyond repair, including Goodison’s single-wide home. Wading through waist-deep water, Goodison and his son wheeled two trash cans containing what little he could salvage — a portable air conditioner, some tools and a baseball bat.Video: Couple will not put off wedding for Hurricane IanThe road into Fort Myers was littered with broken trees, boat trailers and other debris. Cars were abandoned in the road, having stalled when the storm surge flooded their engines.Emergency crews sawed through toppled trees to reach stranded people. Many in the hardest-hit areas were unable to call for help because of electrical and cellular outages.A chunk of the Sanibel Causeway fell into the sea, cutting off access to the barrier island where 6,300 people live.Ian’s pathHours after weakening to a tropical storm while crossing the Florida peninsula, Ian regained strength Thursday evening over the Atlantic. The National Hurricane Center predicted it would hit South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane Friday, still much weaker than the Category 4 hurricane it was on Wednesday.National Guard troops were being positioned in South Carolina to help with the aftermath, including any water rescues. And in Washington, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state, a needed step to speed federal assistance for recovery once Ian passes.The storm was on track to later hit North Carolina, forecasters said. Gov. Roy Cooper urged residents to prepare for torrents of rain, high winds and potential power outages.
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A revived Hurricane Ian battered coastal South Carolina on Friday, ripping apart piers and filling neighborhoods with calf-high water, after the deadly storm caused catastrophic damage in Florida and trapped thousands in their homes.
Here’s the latest on Hurricane Ian:
- Hurricane Ian made landfall near Georgetown, South Carolina, around 2 p.m. ET Friday as Category 1 storm.
- Ian has been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, according to the NHC’s 5 p.m. advisory.
- Death toll has reached 17 people in the U.S. as Florida authorities confirm several drownings and other fatalities.
Ian hits South Carolina
Hurricane Ian made landfall near Georgetown, South Carolina, around 2 p.m. ET Friday as a Category 1 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center. Its maximum sustained winds remained at 85 mph with higher gusts.
Sheets of rain whipped trees and power lines and left many areas on Charleston’s downtown peninsula under water. Four piers along the coast, including two at Myrtle Beach, collapsed into the churning waves and washed away. Online cameras showed seawater filling neighborhoods in Garden City to calf level.
Video: Myrtle Beach reports first signs of storm damage as Ian approaches
The hurricane warning stretched from the Savannah River to Cape Fear, with flooding likely across the Carolinas and southwestern Virginia, the center said. The forecast predicted a storm surge of up to 7 feet into coastal areas of the Carolinas, and rainfall of up to 8 inches.
LATEST CONE
LATEST MODELS
LATEST SATELLITE
A hurricane warning was issued for the South Carolina coast and extended to Cape Fear on the southeastern coast of North Carolina. With tropical storm-force winds reaching about 415 miles from its center, the NHC expects a life-threatening storm surge of up to 7 feet and hurricane conditions along the Carolina coast by Friday afternoon. Rainfall of up to 8 inches threatened flooding from South Carolina to Virginia.
Video below: Winds, rain pick up off the coast of Georgia’s Tybee Island
Florida’s rescue effort
In Florida, rescue crews piloted boats and waded through riverine streets Thursday to save thousands of people trapped amid flooded homes and buildings shattered by Hurricane Ian.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said rescue crews have gone door-to-door to over 3,000 homes in the hardest-hit areas.
“There’s really been a Herculean effort,” he said Friday during a news conference in Tallahassee.
Video: Florida governor gives update on Ian’s damage
Climate change added at least 10% more rain to Hurricane Ian, according to a study prepared immediately after the storm, said its co-author, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab climate scientist Michael Wehner.
The U.S. death toll from Hurricane Ian has risen to 17 as Florida authorities on Friday afternoon confirmed several drowning deaths and other fatalities.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said the deaths included a 22-year-old woman who was ejected from an ATV rollover on Friday because of a road washout in Manatee County and a 71-year-old man who died of head injuries when he fell off a roof while putting up rain shutters on Wednesday. Many of the other deaths were drownings, including a 68-year-old woman who was swept into the ocean by a wave.
Video: WESH reporter talks about water rescue
At least three people were reported killed in Cuba after the hurricane struck there on Tuesday.
In the Fort Myers area, businesses near the beach were completely razed, leaving twisted debris. Broken docks floated at odd angles beside damaged boats. Fires smoldered on lots where houses once stood.
“I don’t know how anyone could have survived in there,” William Goodison said amid the wreckage of a mobile home park in Fort Myers Beach where he’d lived for 11 years. Goodison said he was alive only because he rode out the storm at his son’s house inland.
The hurricane tore through the park of about 60 homes, leaving many destroyed or mangled beyond repair, including Goodison’s single-wide home. Wading through waist-deep water, Goodison and his son wheeled two trash cans containing what little he could salvage — a portable air conditioner, some tools and a baseball bat.
Video: Couple will not put off wedding for Hurricane Ian
The road into Fort Myers was littered with broken trees, boat trailers and other debris. Cars were abandoned in the road, having stalled when the storm surge flooded their engines.
Emergency crews sawed through toppled trees to reach stranded people. Many in the hardest-hit areas were unable to call for help because of electrical and cellular outages.
A chunk of the Sanibel Causeway fell into the sea, cutting off access to the barrier island where 6,300 people live.
Ian’s path
Hours after weakening to a tropical storm while crossing the Florida peninsula, Ian regained strength Thursday evening over the Atlantic. The National Hurricane Center predicted it would hit South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane Friday, still much weaker than the Category 4 hurricane it was on Wednesday.
National Guard troops were being positioned in South Carolina to help with the aftermath, including any water rescues. And in Washington, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state, a needed step to speed federal assistance for recovery once Ian passes.
The storm was on track to later hit North Carolina, forecasters said. Gov. Roy Cooper urged residents to prepare for torrents of rain, high winds and potential power outages.
