Hurricane Ian slammed into the South Carolina coast on Friday afternoon — making one more landfall just days after leaving a path of deadly destruction across Florida.
Ian’s center got here ashore near Georgetown, about 60 miles north of Charleston, just after 2 p.m. while packing maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, in accordance with U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Forecasters have warned the Category 1 hurricane will bring “life-threatening storm surge,” in addition to damaging winds and flash flooding to large swaths of South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina.
Forecasters are predicting a storm surge of as much as 7 feet into coastal areas of the Carolinas, and rainfall of as much as 8 inches.
Still, the hurricane made landfall with much weaker winds than when it smashed into Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday as considered one of the strongest storm cyclones to ever hit the U.S. mainland.
Ian was forecast to only weaken further because it moves inland across the Carolinas.
“Loads of prayers have been answered – this storm shouldn’t be as bad because it might have been, but don’t let your guard down yet,” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said because the hurricane made landfall.
“We are usually not out of the woods yet, there may be water on the roads, still heavy winds, and it continues to be dangerous in lots of parts of the state.”
Even before making landfall, storms had been pummeling South Carolina’s coastline early Friday as Ian inched closer. On Friday morning within the historic city of Charleston, powerful wind gusts bent tree branches and regular rain fell.
In Myrtle Beach, waves were crashing into the often crowded boardwalk tourist area and a well-liked pier within the beach community of Pawleys Island had collapsed and floated away.
“We’re in the guts of it without delay,” said Matt Storen, a police sergeant within the beachside community of Isle of Palms. “Loads of power outages, we’re getting some downed trees.”
Greater than 200,000 homes and businesses within the Carolinas were without power after Ian made landfall, in accordance with the PowerOutage.us tracking website.
Meanwhile, greater than 2 million in Florida woke without power to survey the historic death and destruction left in its path.
While the worst of the storm had left Florida by Friday, “ongoing major to record river flooding will proceed through next week” across parts of the Sunshine State, the advisory stressed.
The devastation across Florida — where Ian made landfall just shy of the utmost Category 5 storm with 150-mph winds — meant local rescue crews were still unable to achieve those in need and tally the missing and dead.
President Biden on Thursday warned that it “could possibly be the deadliest hurricane in Florida’s history.”
“We’re hearing early reports of what could also be substantial lack of life,” he said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at the very least 700 rescues, mostly by air, were conducted on Thursday involving the US Coast Guard, the National Guard and concrete search-and-rescue teams, but noted around 10,000 people were still unaccounted for.
He said “we fully expect to have mortality from this hurricane,” but cautioned against speculating on a probable number. To date 21 have been confirmed dead consequently of the hurricane.
Early Friday, greater than 2 million were without power within the Sunshine State, down from 2.6 million the day before today.
With all of South Carolina’s coast under a hurricane warning, a gentle stream of vehicles left Charleston – much of which lies below the water line – on Thursday, many likely heeding officials’ warnings to hunt higher ground. Storefronts were sandbagged to ward off high water levels in an area liable to inundation.
“This can be a dangerous storm that can bring high winds and quite a lot of water, but probably the most dangerous thing about it is going to be human error,” Gov. McMaster tweeted.
“Be smart, make good decisions, check in your family members, and stay protected.”
In North Carolina, National Guard troops were already on the ready for rescue missions.
“This storm is dangerous. Ensure that you’re prepared,” Gov. Ray Cooper said.
The National Weather Service warns that a Category 1 hurricane — with winds between 74 and 95 mph — can damage roofs on even well-constructed homes in addition to rip up trees and cause extensive power outages.
While Ian is anticipated to lose power after passing the Carolinas and Virginia, it is going to still bring heavy rainfall for much of the Northeast throughout the weekend, including Recent York.
With Post wires
