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Hurricane "Ian" off Florida: "Extremely dangerous"

2022-09-28T14:29:26.728Z


It has already raged in Cuba, and now hurricane "Ian" is heading for Florida. The US National Hurricane Center has declared the second highest danger level: "Life-threatening storm surges and catastrophic winds".


AreaRead the video transcript expand here

On Tuesday, some people in Key West, Florida

still see

Hurricane Ian as a little adventure.

Here, at the southernmost point of the USA, there is slight flooding, as these amateur photos show.

It is not a small storm that is moving towards Florida, but a very strong hurricane, as these satellite images show.

The authorities have now classified the storm at level four out of five, making it "extremely dangerous".

Ian has already wreaked havoc and chaos in Cuba.

The hurricane had reached the Caribbean island early Tuesday morning.

Trees and power lines fell, roofs of houses were torn off.

Doralba Miguel, resident:


“It's scary to see.

We don't know what to do.

Everything is destroyed.

Take a look at this."

Ana Julia Gomez, resident:


"It was a disaster, I've never seen anything like this before this storm."


Reporter:


"Have you lost everything?"


Ana Julia Gomez, resident:


"Everything, nothing is left as you can see .«

But not only private houses have been destroyed, the economy has also been hit hard.

Abel Hernandez, tobacco grower:


»It was a disaster.

We've never seen anything like it.

Hurricanes do hit here from time to time, but not of this magnitude.

He destroyed our houses, the shacks where the tobacco dries, our farms, the fruit trees, everything.”

The infrastructure was so badly damaged that there is now a power outage across the country.

The Caribbean island was completely in the dark at night, like the capital Havana here.

The power supply in Cuba is generally unreliable because the network is outdated and ailing.

Easy prey for the hurricane.

Now the storm is expected to hit Florida soon – the state is already preparing for it.

There is great concern that Ian will also cause great destruction here.

Florida Gov. Ron de Santis:


“If you look at the extent of the waves, we're talking about a life-threatening hazard.

We are talking about a height of more than three meters in some parts when they reach the coast.

There will also be an extreme amount of rain, the storm will cause really heavy flooding.

When the storm hits the coast it will probably weaken, that's true.

But it will also slow, meaning heavy rain will fall while the storm moves at a snail's pace.

This rain will accumulate very quickly in various parts of Southwest Florida.

So these dangers are real.

So we want people to take the reasonable precautions.”

Evacuation instructions apply to 2.5 million people.

And the White House has already pledged full support.

Joe Biden, US President:


“My administration is on alert and already in the process of helping the people of Florida.

I agreed to Florida's request for emergency assistance as soon as I received it from the governor.

And I've ordered my team to help on the ground before the storm makes landfall.

Fema has already sent 700 people to Florida and the governor has activated 5,000 state National Guard personnel - and 2,000 more are coming in from other states.”

Many residents of Port Charlotte, on the west coast south of Tampa, are also preparing for the storm themselves.

Some appear relaxed, but still want to have a full tank just in case.

Bruce Henry, Resident:


“We're going through a hurricane.

People go crazy when a hurricane comes.

Everyone drives off, buys gas, water, food.

They hoard all that, I've seen that many times.

I've lived here since 1985, so it's been a long time.«

Others remember 2004 when Hurricane Charley took the region by surprise.

Carlos Marrero, Resident:


“I believe Charley was the strongest hurricane to hit Port Charlotte and the surrounding area.

He was moving towards Tampa and suddenly turned into the port of Charlotte.

So we didn't expect that, nobody was ready.

And we all paid the price, so hopefully that won't happen again."

The storm is expected to hit the Florida coast on Wednesday evening and move through the state by Friday morning.

Then it will be seen how badly Ian really rages.

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2022-09-28

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