From News Nation:
“Hurricane Ian by the numbers:
Evacuations, rescues”
Forecasters say Hurricane Ian,
which made landfall in Florida Wednesday, will be a historic storm, especially
for those on the southwest coast of the state. There are still some unknowns
when it comes to the hurricane’s damage and toll. Here are the numbers we know
so far: 700 rescues have been performed, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday
evening. The Wall Street Journal reported that the governor did not list the
number of deaths caused by the storm as it would take time to confirm
fatalities. Rainfall levels along Ian’s trajectory went from 14 to almost 17
inches as the storm moved through coastal counties, according to the South
Florida Sun Sentinel. Hurricane Ian slammed the coast as a Category 4
storm with 150 mph winds. That’s only a few mph less than it would be for a
Category 5 storm. 2.5 million
were ordered to evacuate southwest Florida before the storm, but by law no one
could be forced to go. Almost 2 million people still don’t have power:
PowerOutage.us said out of 11,134,642 customers tracked, 1,994,431 are still
without electricity. About 42,000 linemen and associated personnel are on the
ground trying to restore power. The Florida Department of Transportation has over
1,300 people on the ground who have cleared more than 1,100 miles of
roadway so far. DeSantis said traffic in the state is “flowing” better than had
been anticipated so soon after a hurricane. FDOT has also inspected or reopened
800 bridges across the state, including 67 high-priority ones in Lee,
Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee counties. 1.6 million gallons of fuel
have been sent into southwest Florida to support the hurricane response. “The
fuel supply is flowing. It’s just a matter of the gas stations (needing) to
have power,” DeSantis said at a press conference. Rescue personnel have gone to
more than 3,000 homes in the hardest-hit areas, DeSantis said. More than
1,000 rescue personnel are going up and down the coastline, said the governor,
and there are plans for them to go more inland as well 47 nursing
homes were evacuated along with the residents in them, the Associated Press
reported. There were 115 assisted-living facilities evacuated as well, the
Florida Health Care Association said. Altogether, there were 8,000 residents
among them. Kristen Knapp, senior director of strategy and communication for
the FHCA, told ABC News most of the nursing homes are in low-lying areas with
evacuation orders. 6 health care facilities were evacuated because they
had problems with water or power for an extended period of time, DeSantis said.
117 facilities that lost power have had it restored, he added.
On Friday morning, Hurricane Ian
was gaining strength as it headed toward the Carolinas. It is expected to make
landfall somewhere between Charleston and Myrtle Beach.
^ These numbers are impressive. ^
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.