By Leila Sackur—
NBC News
Hurricane Ian, one of the strongest and most destructive storms in American history, is already advancing as a post-tropical cyclone through North Carolina and Virginia, after causing at least 34 deaths in Florida (where it arrived as category 4) and South Carolina , according to an NBC News tally from official figures.
Despite weakening, the risk of flooding persists, and the rivers are reaching dangerous levels due to the rains due to the slow advance of the storm.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned of
record flooding
in parts of Florida, and flash flooding in the Appalachians and the Southeast over the weekend.
[A Florida hospital runs out of water after Ian's passage]
Damage caused by Hurricane Ian on Estero Island, in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, on September 30, 2022. Gerald Herbert / AP
Ian is carrying top winds of 25 miles per hour, according to the NHC, and is expected to dissipate over south-central Virginia overnight Saturday.
But rescues continue in affected communities, complicated by power and phone outages, Brendan McPherson, the Coast Guard chief in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, told NBC News.
"It is one of the biggest challenges," he explained, "immediately after the storm we activated aerial teams to search and locate people who needed help."
As of this Saturday, he said, he has rescued 325 people and more than 100 pets.
Thousands of people protest in Cuba due to the lack of electricity after the passage of Hurricane Ian
Oct. 1, 202200:57
Most of the isolated areas in southwest Florida have already been reached by air or door-to-door rescue teams by boat, he added.
In Florida, 1.3 million homes and businesses are still without power on Saturday, three days after Ian hit the state.
In South Carolina, more than 35,000 customers.
[A small farming town is cut off by Ian]
Residents of Fort Myers, one of the hardest-hit areas, waded through knee-deep water Friday, using rafts and canoes to salvage what possessions they could from their flooded homes.
“I want to sit in a corner and cry. I don't know what else to do
,” Stevie Scuderi told The Associated Press (AP) news agency after dragging her feet through her nearly destroyed Fort Myers apartment, mud sticking to her sandals.
These are the costs in damages that Ian has caused in Florida and so you can request help
Oct. 1, 202201:00
In South Carolina, Ian made landfall on Friday near Georgetown, a small community on Winyah Bay, 60 miles north of the historic city of Charleston.
The storm washed out four piers, including two in the resort town of Myrtle Beach.
President Joe Biden has approved an emergency declaration for North Carolina, authorizing federal aid to all of its 100 counties, as well as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
But while Ian's winds are expected to dissipate tonight, these communities, from coastal resort towns to inland suburbs, are likely to continue to experience the effects of flooding from rains and overflowing rivers, and that repair work cannot begin in earnest until the wind speed drops considerably.
The storm is expected to produce an additional 2 to 4 inches of precipitation on Saturday, with a maximum of 6 in parts of the central Appalachians and North Carolina.
Satellite images show how Ian went on a rampage on Sanibel Island
Oct. 1, 202200:36
"Who knows when it will stop"
As days go by, residents of North Port, a suburb of Sarasota, are starting to run out of food and water. "The water keeps rising, who knows when it's going to stop," Samuel Almanzar, 42, told the AP. , who was rescued on Friday along with his father, his wife and their two children, ages 11 and 6.
The flooding in North Port shows that Ian's impact has not been limited to beaches and resort towns.
Heavy rains have ended up reaching suburban and inland cities that were not part of hurricane warnings.
Flooding was reported throughout the center of the state: around Orlando and its theme parks, south to Kissimmee, east to Daytona Beach, in the Arcadia cattle area.
The population near the rivers was greatly affected.
Near North Port, the Florida Department of Transportation closed a stretch of Interstate 75 in both directions late Friday due to rising Myakka River.
The Coast Guard rescues more than 270 people after the passage of Ian through Florida
Oct. 1, 202200:51
A mother of two cried on the phone, trying to connect with her parents so they could pick them up after leaving her flooded neighborhood.
A woman showed rescuers a map to reach families with children in the area upon learning that the water had begun to rise inside their homes.
One man waded through waist-deep waters with his 8-year-old daughter, trying to venture out to get supplies.
Megan Blevins, who works at a restaurant in nearby Venice, was trying to help her co-workers' families get out, but said some were not accessible because structures had collapsed, leaving certain streets inaccessible.
"We can't get people. We can't take people. There are some older people we're trying to reach because they can't move," he said.
Aimee Bowden, 47, said a tree fell on her home, opening a hole in her kitchen and dining room and allowing water to pour in.
Firefighters coming and going to pick up families with children evacuated her, with her husband and her 13-year-old son in a boat.
“I was terrified.
You have your whole life uprooted," Bowden said, "you try to keep thinking about what you have to do."
Elvis Padron, 40, an asylum seeker who works in construction, fled Venezuela with his wife and 8-year-old daughter and crossed the US-Mexico border in February only to face further hardship already in this country. .
“My wife refuses to leave.
She wants to stay,” said Padrón, who waded through the waters to find more supplies and tried to convince his wife over the phone that they should leave.
"I feel like we don't have much time left,"
he lamented.