Enlarge image
Boats between houses: "Ian" damage in Fort Myers on Florida's west coast
Photo: Shannon Stapleton / REUTERS
According to Joe Biden, Hurricane Ian may be the most devastating storm in Florida history.
"This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida history," said the US President on Thursday during a visit to the US Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington.
"The numbers are still unclear, but we are hearing early reports of a potentially significant loss of life."
The hurricane swept across the Gulf Coast of Florida on Wednesday with wind speeds of up to 241 km/h and left a trail of devastation in its wake.
Boats were washed ashore, houses were swept away and torrential rains caused flooding.
Destruction was mainly reported from the cities of Fort Myers and Naples.
Numerous trees and power lines fell.
The storm disrupted power to more than 2.6 million homes.
"The number of casualties is still unclear, but we are hearing early reports of potentially significant loss of life," Biden said.
There is no official information on the number of fatalities.
However, the broadcaster CNN and representatives of various local authorities reported at least 15 deaths on Thursday.
Course for North and South Carolina
The situation is still dangerous, warned Biden.
"We continue to experience deadly rains, catastrophic storm surges, flooded streets and houses," he said.
Many people wondered what was left of their home or if they would have a home at all.
The head of the civil protection agency FEMA, Deanne Criswell, said: "Hurricane 'Ian' will be a storm that we will be talking about for decades."
"Ian" is already considered one of the strongest storms ever to hit the United States mainland.
The National Hurricane Center upgraded the storm to an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane on Wednesday.
The rescue efforts in Florida are now in full swing.
175 shelters, dozens of helicopters
Rescuers are searching for people trapped in their flooded homes.
According to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 28 helicopters are used for this reason.
In addition, more than 175 emergency shelters have been set up.
In the meantime, "Ian" had weakened to a tropical storm, but the US hurricane center NHC has now classified it as a hurricane again and continues to warn of "life-threatening, catastrophic" storm surges, strong winds and rain.
Hurricane Ian is now moving on to Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
The deadliest hurricane to hit the United States was the Galveston Storm in 1900. Thousands of people died and the city of Galveston, Texas, was destroyed.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the states of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.
The city of New Orleans in particular was badly damaged, more than 1800 people died.
Apr/Reuters/AFP/dpa
