17 dead as a result of Hurricane Ian in Florida

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At least 17 people have lost their lives as a result of the passage of hurricane ‘Ian’ through the state of Florida, local authorities reported Thursday.

‘Ian’s’ combination of strong winds, rain and storm surge has flooded homes, cut off roads and left more than two million people without power, also causing the deaths of at least 15 people in Florida, CNN has reported.

Also, the U.S. Coast Guard has carried out during this Thursday 68 rescue operations throughout the state, which are included in the 700 rescues announced by the governor of Florida, Ron de Santis, during a press conference.

U.S. President Joe Biden has assured that ‘Ian’ could be the “deadliest” in the history of the state of Florida, which has already been declared a catastrophe zone.

“This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida’s history,” Biden said, adding that “early reports” point to a “substantial loss of life,” as reported by the US network ABC.

After ‘Ian’ progressively lost strength throughout Thursday to go from a hurricane to a tropical storm while advancing over central Florida, the meteorological services have warned that it has regained intensity.

Specifically, ‘Ian’, has become a category one hurricane with wind gusts of up to 120 kilometers per hour, according to ABC News.

The hurricane is heading northwest and the eye of the hurricane is expected to make landfall in the states of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina throughout Friday.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (CNH) has warned that the hurricane is expected to bring “potentially deadly flooding, storm surge and high winds” to both Carolinas this Friday.

‘Ian’ made landfall in Florida on Wednesday as a category four hurricane, with wind gusts of up to 150 miles per hour.

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