Storm Brings Death and Devastation to Florida, Turns to Carolinas and Georgia

Last updated: Thursday, September 29 at 11:19 PM EST.

Tropical Storm Ian turned back into a hurricane Thursday night. The storm caused a lot of damage in Florida. Now it’s headed towards Georgia and the Carolinas. At least four people died in the storm. That number will most likely grow.

Over 2.5 million homes and businesses lost power. Entire towns were underwater. Social media videos show seawater pouring into living rooms and cars floating away. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pointed to Ian’s storm surge, or seawater pushed onto land by high winds, as a major culprit.

“We’ve never seen storm surge of this magnitude,” DeSantis said in a news conference. “The amount of water that’s been rising, and will likely continue to rise today ... is basically a 500-year flooding event.”

Ian struck western Florida Wednesday afternoon as a Category 4 hurricane. It had sustained winds of 155 mph. Cities like Naples, Tampa Bay, and Ft. Myers were hit hard. Crews tried to respond to thousands of 911 calls. Most roads and bridges were wiped out, though. So, efforts to help people are difficult. 

“It crushed us,” Lee County's sheriff told Good Morning America. “We still cannot access many of the people that are in need.”

Experts watched Ian’s progress. Late Thursday, they said it had turned back into a hurricane. It's a Category 1. Ian is projected path shows it going toward South Carolina and Georgia on Friday. The entire South Carolina coast is under a hurricane warning. Georgia and North Carolina are under hurricane watches. Storm surge warnings have been issued too.

Photo from Reuters.