Hurricane Ian was barreling toward South Carolina Friday after bludgeoning southwestern and central Florida, leaving catastrophic damage in its wake.
The National Hurricane Center said Ian, which regained hurricane status after a brief span as a tropical storm, was expected to bring “life-threatening storm surge” and hurricane conditions to the Carolina coast along with “flooding rains” across South and North Carolina and southern Virginia. It issued a hurricane warning for the entire South Carolina coast.
Ian was already bringing tropical storm conditions to the Georgia and Carolina coasts on Friday morning, the hurricane center reported.
And Ian could have more in store for Florida: “Major to record river flooding will continue across central Florida through next week,” the hurricane center predicted.
Ian made landfall Wednesday in southwestern Florida as a major Category 4 hurricane, then ripped across the state. It was one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the U.S., and could be the deadliest in the state’s history, President Biden has said.
State emergency officials announced 21 deaths as of Friday morning, however they’re not sure if all are directly related to the storm. Additionally, in Volusia County, the sheriff’s department has confirmed two storm-related deaths there.
People were trapped in homes. Videos and images showed devastating flooding. Today, nearly 2 million homes and businesses remain without power, according to poweroutage.us.
Now, Ian is forecast to make its second landfall somewhere near Charleston, South Carolina, mid-afternoon on Friday, CBS News weather producer David Parkinson said. As of 11 a.m., its center was about 65 miles east-southeast of Charleston, and it was moving north at 14 mph with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, according to the hurricane center.
It should “rapidly weaken” after landfall and move farther inland over South and North Carolina before dissipating by Saturday night, according to forecasters.