(CTN News) _ Florida revived Hurricane Ian made landfall on coastal South Carolina on Friday, threatening the historic city of Charleston with severe flooding after causing catastrophic damage in Florida and trapping thousands in their homes.
As Ian’s center crossed South Carolina Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday, it was one of the strongest storms to ever hit the country.
Several areas of Charleston’s downtown peninsula were underwater after sheets of rain whipped trees and power lines.
North Myrtle Beach and Pawleys Island piers collapsed into churning waves.
In Florida, Ian flooded areas on both coasts, tore homes off their slabs, destroyed beachfront businesses, and left over 2 million people without power.
In the U.S., at least nine people were confirmed dead, with more deaths and searches expected.
Rescue crews waded through riverine streets and piloted boats Thursday to save thousands of people trapped in flooded homes and shattered buildings.
South Carolina Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that crews went door-to-door to over 3,000 homes.
The effort has been Herculean, he said during a news conference.
An 80-year-old woman and a 94-year-old man whose oxygen machines stopped working during power outages, as well as a 67-year-old man who fell into rising water inside his home, were killed.
With such a wide area swamped, the death toll could rise substantially.
Responders have focused so far on “hasty” searches, aimed at emergency rescues and initial assessments, followed by two additional waves.
A submerged home was an example of an initial responder leaving possible remains unconfirmed, he said.
It was up over the roof, but a Coast Guard rescue swimmer swam down into it and identified the remains as human. Exactly how many is unknown, Guthrie said.
Michael Wehner, a climate scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, said climate change added 10 percent more rain to Hurricane Ian.
Rodriguez said there was water everywhere. It’s pretty bad here.”
Students from a complex near the Orlando campus retrieved possessions from waterlogged apartments.
During the evacuation, Deandra Smith stayed in her third-floor apartment with her dog while others were asleep. Other students pushed her through the flooded parking lot on a pontoon Friday.
“I’m still trying to figure out if I should go back to my parents home in South Carolina Florida or find a shelter so I can still attend classes,” she said.
He noted that the damage might have been much worse if an elm tree had fallen across his downtown street during the heaviest rains.
It’s pretty scary,” Shalosky said. “If it had fallen differently, it would be in our house.”
President Biden said he was taking “every possible action to save lives and help survivors.”
