Hurricane Ian Leaves Trapped Florida Residents Pleading for Rescue as 'Hundreds' Feared Dead

[speak easy]

Source: The Daily Beast

The full scale of the disaster unleashed by Hurricane Ian on Florida began to emerge Thursday with hundreds feared dead after catastrophic flooding trapped residents in their homes, destroyed critical infrastructure, and left over 2 million people without power.

The fifth-strongest hurricane to ever hit the U.S. when measured by wind speed, Ian tore into the Southwest Florida coast with violent gales, an epic storm surge, and as much as a foot of rain being dropped over some areas.

At first light on Thursday morning, emergency crews were beginning to reckon with the monumental devastation left in Ian’s wake, as homes were ripped from their foundations and public buildings damaged.

“I definitely know the fatalities are in the hundreds,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told Good Morning America Thursday. “There are thousands of people that are waiting to be rescued.”

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/hurricane-ian-leaves-trapped-florida-residents-pleading-for-rescue

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In Port Charlotte, a hospital’s emergency room flooded and fierce winds ripped away part of the roof, sending water gushing down into the intensive care unit. The sickest patients -- some on ventilators — were crowded into the middle two floors as the staff prepared for storm victims to arrive, said Dr. Birgit Bodine of HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital.

https://apnews.com/article/hurricane-ian-impact-path-d4db93bcac5af1134e31a3b7f2f694f0

[BumRushDaShow]

2. I know on my weather forum

there were people posting about some news sources (one I think even being ABC's GMA) who were attempting to get the Sheriff to "dial it back" regarding possible fatalities. I know it's going to take some time to confirm who left, who stayed, and even who may have been a resident but was already out of town at the time (work, school, vacation, etc).

I do know that at least one team of chasers drove to a mobile home park near Punta Gorda when the eye was overhead (before the back edge came in later last evening) and found that although most had evacuated, there were a few who stayed and of those who did, they were mostly okay (although a number of trailers/homes were damaged - but at the time, not uniformly so) and offered to transport any who were ready to go at that point.

[dalton99a]

3. That sheriff has a bad reputation as a lying MAGA crook

[mgardener]

4. The same sheriff

Who refused to locate hundreds of prisoners from his jail.
https://www.rawstory.com/fort-myers-jail-hurricane-ian/

[speak easy]

5. 'the jail [was] in a mandatory evacuation zone'

[dalton99a]

6. Yep.

[Renew Deal]

8. I'm wondering if he's including the jail in his estimate

[brer cat]

7. Bad news for HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital.

Hospitals are as vulnerable as any other property, yet they must stay open and functioning.

[Historic NY]

9. They vacated the entire VA hospital in advance of the storm at Bay Pines

St Petersburg. I just don't get why they think its never going to happen attitude. They had advance warning and they still fucked around and now they found out.

[wnylib]

11. There can be many reasons why

people don't leave. The path prediction can change when it is too late to travel. Poorer people have no means to get somewhere, or no funds for a place to stay.

Not everyone who stays behind is a reckless fool or daredevil.

[OnlinePoker]

10. Now forecast to restrengthen to hurricane force before hitting South Carolina

DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK
----------------------
At 200 PM EDT (1800 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Ian was
located near latitude 28.9 North, longitude 80.0 West. Ian is moving
toward the north-northeast near 9 mph (15 km/h). A turn toward the
north is expected late today, followed by a turn toward the
north-northwest with an increase in forward speed Friday night. On
the forecast track, Ian will approach the coast of South Carolina on
Friday. The center will move farther inland across the Carolinas
Friday night and Saturday.

Maximum sustained winds remain near 70 mph (110 km/h) with higher
gusts. Ian is expected to become a hurricane again by this evening
and make landfall as a hurricane on Friday, with rapid weakening
forecast after landfall.

Ian is a large cyclone. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward
up to 415 miles (665 km) from the center. A WeatherFlow station in
New Smyrna Beach recently reported a sustained wind of 69 mph (111
km/h).

The estimated minimum central pressure is 987 mb (29.15 inches).

[wnylib]

12. Good grief. I have relatives in

the Tampa region. who dodged a bullet.

But just as I am relieved that they are OK, Ian heads for SC where I have other relatives. As far as I know so far, Ian is not heading for a direct hit on Atlanta (more relatives), but a storm that large will send some rain and wind through there.

All those relatives are former northern Yanks who thought that I should also move to warmer areas.

Glad that I didn't.