- Hurricane Ian has caused damage worth tens of billions of pounds. Residents have compared the damage to “an A-bomb.”
- Around 10,000 people are still missing, but the government thinks that many are probably in shelters or without power.
- US President Joe Biden has declared an emergency in North Carolina.
Hurricane Ian has caused damage worth tens of billions of pounds and cut power to about 1.7 million homes and businesses. Residents have compared the damage to “an A-bomb.”
After hitting western Cuba, the storm came ashore in Florida, where it turned coastal towns into disaster zones. Around 10,000 people are still missing, but the government thinks that many are probably in shelters or without power.
Rescuers are still looking through the wreckage of flooded homes for people who might still be alive.
Ian then hit North and South Carolina with winds of 85 mph, destroying piers and blocking roads with water and downed trees.
Even though it was no longer a tropical cyclone and was getting weaker, it was still expected to make parts of the Carolinas, Virginia, and West Virginia dangerous on Saturday.
“The dangerous storm surge, flash flooding, and high wind threat continues,” said the National Hurricane Center.
Even though we don’t know how many people died or how much it will cost to fix the damage, Florida was beginning to see how bad it was.
Ron DeSantis, the governor of the state, said, “Those older homes that weren’t built as well went into the sea.
“If you are hunkering down in that, that is something that I think would be very difficult to be survivable.”
US property data and analytics company CoreLogic says that insurers are getting ready for a hit of up to $47 billion (£42 billion). This could be the most expensive storm to hit Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
US President Joe Biden has given the go-ahead for a disaster declaration, which means that federal aid will be sent to areas hit by the storm.
“We’re just beginning to see the scale of that destruction.
“It’s likely to rank among the worst… in the nation’s history,” he said
Mr Biden also declared an emergency in North Carolina on Saturday.
