By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN and MIKE SCHNEIDER
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Days after the skies cleared and the winds died down in Florida, Hurricane Ian’s results endured Monday, as individuals confronted one other week with out energy and others had been being rescued from properties inundated with lingering floodwaters.
Frustrations mounted within the path the storm lower via Florida, and the hurricane’s remnants, now a nor’easter, weren’t finished with the U.S.
The mid-Atlantic and Northeast coasts had been getting flooding rains. Forecasters stated the storm’s onshore winds might pile much more water into an already inundated Chesapeake Bay and threatened to trigger probably the most important tidal flooding occasion in Virginia’s Hampton Roads area in additional than a decade.
Norfolk and Virginia Beach declared states of emergency as they watched to see how unhealthy Monday’s tides could be. Coastal flooding was potential from North Carolina’s Outer Banks to Long Island, the National Weather Service stated.
At least 68 individuals have been confirmed lifeless: 61 in Florida, 4 in North Carolina and three in Cuba since Ian made its first landfall on the Caribbean island on Sept. 27 and in Florida a day later.
Search and rescue efforts had been nonetheless ongoing Monday in Florida. More than 1,600 individuals have been rescued statewide, in accordance with Florida’s emergency administration company.
Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy advised NBC’s “Today Show” that residents who evacuated had been largely being evaded their properties due to searches prone to final a couple of extra days.
Washed-out bridges to barrier islands, flooded roadways, remoted cellphone service and a scarcity of water, electrical energy or the web left a whole bunch of hundreds nonetheless remoted. The state of affairs in lots of areas wasn’t anticipated to enhance for a number of days as a result of waterways had been overflowing, leaving the rain that fell with nowhere to go.
In DeSoto County, northeast of Fort Myers, the Peace River and tributaries reached report excessive ranges.
Many residents within the rural county of about 37,000 individuals might solely be reached by boat. What roads remained above water had been blocked, in accordance with the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office, which was helping with the efforts.
“Right now we working on creating teams to help find stranded residents and we are dispatching ATVs to help get rid of debris on roadways that were impossible to travel over,” deputies wrote in a Facebook put up.
In rural Seminole County, north of Orlando, residents donned waders, boots and bug spray to paddle to their flooded properties Sunday.
Ben Bertat discovered 4 inches (10 centimeters) of water in his home by Lake Harney after kayaking there.
“I think it’s going to get worse because all of this water has to get to the lake” stated Bertat, pointing to the water flooding a close-by highway. “With ground saturation, all this swamp is full and it just can’t take any more water. It doesn’t look like it’s getting any lower.”
About 600,000 properties and companies in Florida had been nonetheless with out electrical energy on Monday morning, down from a peak of two.6 million. But hat continues to be almost the identical quantity of shoppers in all of Rhode Island.
The present aim is to revive energy by Sunday to clients whose energy traces and different electrical infrastructure continues to be intact, Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie stated Monday. It doesn’t embody properties or areas the place infrastructure must be rebuilt.
President Joe Biden and first woman Jill Biden plan to go to the state on Wednesday.
In Virginia, the U.S. Navy postponed the first-ever deployment of the usS. Gerald R. Ford, the nation’s most superior plane provider, in accordance with an announcement from the Navy’s 2nd Fleet. The provider and different U.S. ships had been scheduled to go away Norfolk on Monday for coaching workout routines within the Atlantic Ocean with vessels from different NATO Countries.
Coast Guard, municipal and personal crews have been utilizing helicopters, boats and even Jet Skis to evacuate individuals over the previous a number of days.
After shifting throughout Florida, Ian made one other landfall within the U.S. in South Carolina as a a lot weaker hurricane. Officials stated Monday that crews had been ending eradicating sand from coastal roads and almost all energy had been restored.
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Associated Press reporters Rebecca Santana in Fort Myers; Brendan Farrington and Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee; David Fischer in Miami; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia.; Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Maryland; and Richard Lardner in Washington contributed to this report.
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For extra AP protection of Hurricane Ian: apnews.com/hub/hurricanes
Source: www.bostonherald.com”