MIAMI – Hurricane Ian was downgraded to a post-tropical storm after it made landfall in South Carolina on Friday, causing flash flooding, heavy rain and strong winds, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
According to him 8pm bulletin. ET from the NHC on Friday, the system had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph and was located about 45 miles northwest of Florence, South Carolina. It was moving north at 15 mph.
Meteorologists have predicted that it will weaken after entering the region.
Notices, watches and warnings are in effect
Storm surge warning:
- Neuse River in North Carolina
Tropical Storm Warning:
- Pamlico Sound.
- From the Santee River to the Duck in North Carolina
Storm surge watch:
- From Surf City in North Carolina to Duck
- Pamlico River
A report by Alexis Boentes from Telemundo 51 provides the first visible damage account in one of the areas hit by Hurricane Ian.
Impact on Florida
Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the United States, slammed into Southwest Florida on Wednesday, turning streets into rivers and threatening millions of people with power outages and catastrophic damage.
The Coast Guard said it was receiving many calls from people trapped in flooded homes. Desperate people are posting on Facebook and other social media, pleading to save themselves or their loved ones. Some videos showed debris-laden water approaching the edges of homes.
The storm flooded the ground-floor emergency room at Port Charlotte Hospital, while high winds tore off part of the roof in the fourth-floor intensive care unit, a doctor who works there said.
Water began flooding into the intensive care ward, forcing staff to evacuate sick patients — some of them on ventilators — to other floors, said Dr. Birgit Bodin of Fawcett Hospital, HCA Florida. Workers tried to remove the water using towels and plastic buckets.
The medium-sized hospital has four floors, but due to damage, patients had to be accommodated on only two.
A ferry carrying Cuban immigrants capsized Wednesday amid stormy weather east of Key West. The Coast Guard launched a 23-person search and rescue mission and was able to locate three survivors two miles south of the archipelago, officials said. Four other Cubans swam to Stock Island, east of Key West, Border Patrol agents said. An aerial search continued for about 20 migrants.
About 2.5 million people in Southwest Florida were ordered to evacuate ahead of Ian’s arrival, but by law no one could be forced to leave their homes.
Sergio Gonzalez explains to us.