Deadly Hurricane Ian was again upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane Thursday afternoon after it moved off Florida’s East Coast by 11 a.m. into the Atlantic bound for the Carolinas, leaving record amounts of rain and “catastrophic flooding” to the Central Florida region.
Rising floodwaters led to home rescues and stranded vehicles across Central Florida, and the area’s first fatalities were reported in Lake and Volusia while the statewide toll has yet to be determined after the hurricane’s storm surge devastated the Gulf Coast.
President Joe Biden on Thursday said “our entire country hurts” along with the people of Florida after Hurricane Ian flooded communities across the state, knocking out electrical power and forcing people into shelters.
Biden said he would visit Florida and meet with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis when “conditions allow.”
Biden declared a major disaster for the state and Gov. Ron DeSantis gave an update from the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee this morning.
“You’re looking at a storm that’s changed the character of a significant part of our state, and this is going to require, not just the emergency response now, and the days or weeks ahead, I mean this is going to require years of effort, to be able to rebuild, to come back,” he said.
In the National Hurricane Center’s 11 p.m. update, the system’s center was located 185 miles south of Charleston, S.C. moving north-northeast at 10 mph with 80 mph sustained winds and higher gusts. The system had dropped in strength to 65 mph at 5 a.m. but is regained hurricane status as it moves further out over open water in the Atlantic. The system as maintained its tropical-storm-force winds extending out 45 miles and is expected to make another landfall farther up the U.S. East Coast on Friday.
In the 8 p.m. advisory, the NHC said major-to-record river flooding will continue across Central Florida through next week.
Rain totals approaching 20 inches were forecast across parts of the peninsula prompting flash flood warnings across Central Florida while more than 2.6 million people were without power across the state at 1 p.m., according to poweroutage.us. Southwest Florida outages continue to be the hardest hit, but about 800,000 people were without power in Central Florida.
“Lee and Charlotte are basically off the grid at this point,” DeSantis said noting power restoration will take time. “Charlotte and Lee reconnects are really going to likely have to be rebuilding of that infrastructure.”
Flooding is widespread in Osceola County, and rescues are underway, said Andrew Sullivan, a spokesman for Osceola County Fire Rescue.
At a 55-and-up community in Kissimmee, first responders used an airboat to rescue people who were trapped in knee-to-waist deep floodwaters.
The airboat ferried two residents using a walker and their two dogs to dry ground. About 1,300 people live at Good Samaritan Society’s Kissimmee Village, which is vulnerable to flooding.
It’s unknown how many people didn’t evacuate, but deputies offered everyone a chance to leave, Sullivan said.
All the assisted-living residents who are the most vulnerable evacuated, he said.
Ian produced unprecedented flooding in Osceola County, Sullivan said.
“It is widespread, and it is as levels we have not seen before in my time here and many other people’s time here,” he said.
County officials are requesting state and federal assistance. The National Guard is staging at Silver Spurs Arena.
Two hospitals were forced to divert patients because of flooding, Sullivan said.
A 38-year-old Lake County man who died when his car hydroplaned is listed as the first official fatality of Hurricane Ian, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has confirmed.
The FDLE had no further information, but a Florida Highway Patrol report said a man from Howey-In-The-Hills was driving east on County Road 48 12:30 p.m. Wednesday when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a pickup truck.
After a death is confirmed to be hurricane-related, district medical examiners report the death to the Florida Medical Examiners Commission, which is staffed by the FDLE.
Volusia County law enforcement reported an overnight death of a 72-year-old Deltona man who had gone outside during the storm to drain his pool.
“Deputies responded to a home on Poinciana Lane near Lake Bethel around 1 a.m. after the victim’s wife reported he disappeared after heading outside. While searching for him, deputies found his flashlight, then spotted the victim unresponsive in a canal behind the home,” according to a press release from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
Earlier Thursday, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told ABC’s “Good Morning America” he expected deaths from the storm to be in the hundreds. Lee County was ground zero for Hurricane Ian’s landfall on Wednesday afternoon.
DeSantis, though, said at this point there were only two unconfirmed fatalities in the state.
“None of that is confirmed. I think what that is is there were 911 calls for people saying, ‘Hey, the water is rising in my home. I’m gonna go up in the attic but I’m really worried.’ Of course those folks are now again to be going to be checked on, and so I think you’ll have more clarity about that in the next day or so,” DeSantis said. “We’re obviously hoping that they can be rescued at this point.”
He said the Coast Guard had been performing rescue missions on the barrier islands continually overnight.
DeSantis said major flooding is expected in Central Florida, especially in Orange and Seminole counties.
“Basically you are looking at a 500-year flood event,” he said.
The FDOT said this about search and rescue operations across the state:
Since 1 a.m., search and rescue operations have been underway. Urban Search and Rescue Team 2 was the first on-site and the Coast Guard made dozens of rescues overnight. There are 8 USAR teams with more than 800 team members performing search and rescue.
The National Guard and the Coast Guard are landing helicopters on barrier islands to perform search and rescue.
Search and Rescue crews rallied at the Fort Myers Sports Complex and have been running operations for the past 5 hours.
Florida National Guard members are conducting incident awareness and assessment missions this morning in Sarasota, De Soto, Charlotte, Collier and Lee Counties. We expect that throughout the day, the Florida Guard will be engaged in a multitude of missions including search and rescue and route clearance operations.
Last night, Florida National Guard Brig. Gen. Sean Boyette, Task Force Florida commander, was appointed the Dual Status Command (DSC) commander in anticipation of Title 10 active-duty forces being assigned to assist with recovery operations.
Following DeSantis’ authorization, a total of 5,000 Florida Guardsmen have been activated to State Active Duty for Hurricane Ian response operations. Up to 2,000 Guardsmen from neighboring states are also activated to assist.
Among rescues this morning, Orange County Fire Rescue evacuated residents from Avante at Orlando, a nursing home off Semoran Boulevard because of rising flood waters. Rescues took place overnight in Seminole County as well.
State Emergency management director Kevin Guthrie said he received a call from the Orange County emergency management director, who was actively responding to nine widespread areas along the Colonial Drive area, I-4 and State Road 436. So assets already in place in Central Florida were deployed to help.
“Very quickly this morning, our overnight crew sprung into action and started moving National Guard high-water vehicles as well as other assets that were staged there for Urban Search and Rescue elements with water elements and they started moving into action this morning,” he said.
Guthrie said the rescue efforts were due to the massive rain that led to lakes and rivers rising as much as 4 feet within a matter of hours.
“It appears that these lakes were filling up and overflowing into the neighborhoods around them,” he said.
Guthrie warned people in Central Florida and in the devastation on the Gulf Coast to stay out of the area.
“Do not come in and tour the area for damage,” he said noting they have as many as 30,000 responders coming into the damaged areas that need priority access to the roads. “Stay at home. Do not get on the road. Let the first responders have the roadways. Let the power crews have the roadways. We will get things open up exponentially quicker if we don’t have to maneuver around individuals that are just coming into area to look around.”
In Winter Springs, Amanda Trompeta and Dimitrios Frantzis woke up to sounds of their small dog barking at 5 a.m. to find water had begun flooding their home.
“I thought he was just scared of the storm and when I stood up I realized the water was ankle deep,” Trompeta said.
The water kept rising and by 6:20 a.m. water in their home started lifting up furniture and even their refrigerator.
They couple said they feel very stranded and sad. It’s their first house and they have a wedding less than three weeks away. While not hurt, they said they were afraid of the rising water.
Trompeta said they called for emergency help at 6 a.m. but were told no one couldn’t assist them at the time. Later dispatch said help would come, but local emergency response could not reach them.
“The fire rescue lady called me at 8:06 a.m. to let me know they tried to reach us but they can’t,” she said. “So now they’re waiting for military help.”
Statewide reports of people trapped in homes continued to flow in overnight while destruction has included washed out bridges, the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and flooded highways.
Guthrie said the state had logged 15,000 instances of people letting the state know they were sheltering in place. That doesn’t include 911 calls for help.
“I think if you look at what’s going on, it’s going to be those communities like Charlotte County that are close to those to those bodies of water that probably suffered the most severe flooding,” DeSantis said. “There’s people that had Coast Guard that has had people that were in their attic and got saved off their rooftops in those areas because of the flooding.”
The Florida Disaster Fund has raised $2 million so far “because the people across state and country have stepped up big,” First Lady Casey DeSantis said. She said the state’s private fund will also try to remove any red tape and bureaucracy to get that money to people in need immediately. “Thanks… for stepping up to help wonderful people in need.”
The storm that made landfall Wednesday afternoon as a massive Category 4 hurricane after lashing southwest Florida with 155 mph winds, only dropped speed as it carved its way inland moving northeast through the state overnight. At 2 a.m. it was still rated a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds before transitioning to a tropical storm hours later.
“Widespread, life-threatening catastrophic flooding, with major to record river flooding, will continue today across portions of Central Florida with considerable flooding in northern Florida, southeastern Georgia and eastern South Carolina expected today through the end of the week,” said NHC senior hurricane specialist Robbie Berg.
Flash flood warnings continued to be extended in Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Volusia counties with as much as 15 inches of rain already having dropped across Central Florida with more to come.
One of the hardest hit areas has been around the Little Wekiva River that has seen more than a foot higher levels than previous records.
“We are now at historic level never been at this point in recorded history,” said Alan Harris, chief administrator for the Office of Emergency Management.
County officials teams with the Florida National Guard to rescue individuals with 10 all-terrain trucks.
Seminole County Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Blake said his team has rescued people stranded in their cars and homes in Winter Springs, Geneva and the Little Wekiva River area.
Even a section of Florida’s Turnpike has been shut down because of flooding, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said in a news conference Thursday that tropical storm-force winds are expected to linger until about 1 a.m. Friday.
Demings and Sheriff John Mina urged people to stay home due to significant flooding, downed power lines and trees blocking roads. But he thus far hasn’t issued a curfew.
“We are cautiously optimistic the worst of the storm has passed,” Demings said. “That means it’s not time for our residents to re-engage with normal social activities … we’re asking you to stay put at this time. Stay home.”
County fire department and law enforcement have rescued about 30 people from the Hope Circle area of Orlo Vista, a low-laying flood-prone area near Kirkman Road, five miles west of Downtown Orlando.
About 200,000 customers of the Orlando Utiltiies Commission and Duke Energy are without power, but all customers of OUC and Orange County Utilities have water service, he said.
Orange County Utilities Manager Ed Torres asked residents to limit water usage to limit strain on wastewater systems. If drains back up, he said to call 311 so crews can be dispatched.
Damage assessments are beginning this afternoon by county public works staff in West Orange, as winds are expected to be calmer. On Friday, if winds die down on the east side, crews will assess those areas, said Diana Almodovar, the deputy public works director.
Statewide efforts Guthrie said are now at the beginning of a 72-hour clock, where response teams search first, secure second and stabilize third.
He said the division had received more than 1,500 requests for resources from county agencies, and are filling or in process of filling 1,300 of those.
300 truckloads of food and supplies are ready to move out and the state is deploying over 100 mobile cell phone towers to areas without cell phone service
He also said Central Florida logistics staging areas have all the supplies needed to respond and help people with tarps, medical supplies and so on.
Guthrie said DEM has received over 15,000 inputs to our shelter in place survey, and encouraged anyone sheltering in place or knows of someone sheltering in place to register at floridadisaster.org/report.
“That is not a replacement for 911,” Guthrie said. “If you need assistance, call 911 in your local area.”
Those 911 calls can help rescue crews locate the people most in need of assistance, he said.
The National Hurricane Center said the eye of the Category 4 hurricane made landfall near Cayo Costa State Park at 3:05 p.m. just north of Sanibel and Captiva Islands after its eyewall lashed residents in Charlotte and Lee counties for the last several hours.
The system had been pummeling the coast with near Category 5 sustained winds of 155 mph with higher gusts most of Wednesday.
After passing over the barrier island and moving up through Charlotte Harbor in a similar path to 2004’s Hurricane Charley that also carved its way into Central Florida, the still Category 4 hurricane made its second landfall close to Punta Gorda near Pirate Harbor at 4:35 p.m. with sustained winds of 145 mph.
Thursday morning, President Biden declared a major disaster in Florida, making millions in emergency recovery aid available, especially to the nine counties hit hardest.
“The President’s action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas, and Sarasota. Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster,” reads part of the declaration. “For a period of 30 days from the start of the incident period, assistance for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, is authorized at 100 percent of the total eligible costs.”
DeSantis said the state will push for more federal help.
“We have received a major disaster declaration for nine counties. but we do expect more. I just spoke with the president this morning and he offered support,” DeSantis said. “I told him thanks for this but because the storm has moved inland and caused a lot of potential damage in the center part of our state that we are going to be asking for those counties to be expanded and included there.”
Images of damage since Wednesday show a massive swath of destruction from floodwaters and wind.
A section of the causeway leading to Sanibel Island washed away. It’s the only mode to access both Sanibel and Captiva Island from the mainland by car.
The barrier islands are home to more than 6,000 people.
DeSantis said the Pine Island bridge was also damaged and impassable. He said 100 engineers were on site in teams of two to “assess bridges and can assure their safety, bridges will be reopened.”
In Port Charlotte, the storm surge flooded a hospital’s emergency room even as fierce winds ripped away part of the roof from its intensive care unit, according to a doctor who works there.
Water gushed down onto the ICU, forcing them to evacuate their sickest patients — some on ventilators — to other floors, said Dr. Birgit Bodine of HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital. Staff members used towels and plastic bins to try to mop up the sodden mess.
The medium-sized hospital spans four floors, but patients crowded into two because of the damage, and more were expected with people injured from the storm needing help.
“As long as our patients do OK and nobody ends up dying or having a bad outcome, that’s what matters,” Bodine said.
Law enforcement officials in nearby Fort Myers received calls from people trapped in flooded homes or from worried relatives. Pleas were also posted on social media sites, some with video showing debris-covered water sloshing toward the eaves of their homes.
Brittany Hailer, a journalist in Pittsburgh, contacted rescuers about her mother in North Fort Myers, whose home was swamped by 5 feet of water.
“We don’t know when the water’s going to go down. We don’t know how they’re going to leave, their cars are totaled,” Hailer said. “Her only way out is on a boat.”
As of 5 a.m. Thursday, Ian had dumped so much rain across Central Florida that flash flood warnings continue for parts of Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Brevard and Volusia counties.
The torrential rain earlier prompted the weather service to issue a Flood Warning for the St. Johns River near and above Lake Harney in Seminole County, saying that record flood stage coming.
“As Hurricane Ian moves into east central Florida early this morning, historic heavy rainfall will continue, leading to quickly rising levels on the Saint Johns River Above Lake Harney at Geneva,” the NWS said in its warning just after 11 p.m. Wednesday.
River levels were approaching or surpassing flood stage and record heights across the state by Thursday morning, according to measurements from the NWS.
By 5 a.m. Peace River near Zolfo Springs in Hardee County was approaching 26 feet in depth more than 9 feet higher than flood stage. Other rivers cresting across the state included the Ocklawaha, Myakka and Little Manatee rivers.
In Central Florida, portions of the St. Johns were approaching 3 feet over flood stage while the Little Wekiva River had risen more than 6 feet than normal surpassing flood stage.
“Heavy rainfall will continue this morning from Osceola and Brevard Counties northward, along and north of the track of Ian’s center,” the NWS said as of 5 a.m. “Additional rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches are expected in southern Lake, Orange and northern Osceola and Brevard Counties, 3 to 5 inches in Seminole and northern Lake Counties, and up to between 5 and 10 inches in Volusia County.”
Staff writers Skyler Swisher, Monivette Cordeiro, Katie Rice, Ryan Gillespie, Austin Fuller, Nelly Ontiveros, Stephen Hudak, Leslie Postal, Amanda Rabines, the Sun Sentinel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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