Hurricane Ian lashes Carolinas after slamming Florida

Hurricane Ian was on its strategy to South Carolina Friday morning after bludgeoning southwestern and central Florida, leaving catastrophic injury in its wake.

The National Hurricane Center stated Ian, which regained hurricane standing after a quick span as a tropical storm, may carry “life-threatening storm surge” and hurricane circumstances to the Carolina coast together with “flooding rains” throughout South and North Carolina and southern Virginia. It issued a hurricane warning for your entire South Carolina coast.

Ian was already hitting a lot of the coast of South and North Carolina with tropical storm-force winds Friday morning, the hurricane middle reported.

And Ian may have extra in retailer for Florida: “Major to record river flooding will continue across central Florida through next week,” the hurricane middle predicted.

Ian made landfall Wednesday in southwestern Florida as a serious Category 4 hurricane, then ripped throughout the state. It was one of many strongest hurricanes ever to hit the U.S., and could possibly be the deadliest within the state’s historical past, President Biden has stated.

CBS News confirmed six deaths in Florida as a result of storm as of Friday morning.

People have been trapped in houses. Videos and pictures confirmed devastating flooding. Today, greater than 2 million houses and companies stay with out energy, in response to poweroutage.us.

Now, Ian is forecast to make its second landfall someplace close to Charleston, South Carolina, mid-afternoon on Friday, CBS News climate producer David Parkinson stated. As of 8 a.m., its middle was about 105 miles south-southeast of Charleston, and it was transferring north at 9 mph with most sustained winds of 85 mph, in response to the hurricane middle.

It ought to “rapidly weaken” after landfall and transfer farther inland over South and North Carolina earlier than dissipating by Saturday evening, in response to forecasters.