Biden declares federal state of emergency in North Carolina ahead of the arrival of Cyclone Ian

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has declared this Saturday a state of federal emergency in North Carolina in view of the arrival of cyclone ‘Ian’, which has already wreaked havoc in Cuba and Florida, where it has left at least 45 dead.

The president’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the powers to coordinate all relief efforts in the state.

The weather phenomenon, which made landfall in Florida last Wednesday as a category four hurricane, has brought with it a combination of high winds, rain and storm surge.

‘Ian’ is now crossing South Carolina as a tropical cyclone but it is feared that it could gain strength in the next few hours and reach North Carolina again as a hurricane.

Biden has assured that ‘Ian’ could have become the “deadliest” hurricane in the history of the state of Florida, which has already been declared a catastrophe zone.