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People trapped, hospital damaged after Ian swamps SW Florida | AP News

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  perrie-halpern  •  2 years ago  •  44 comments

By:   AP NEWS

People trapped, hospital damaged after Ian swamps SW Florida | AP News
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Ian left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2 million people before aiming for the Atlantic Coast.

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T



ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Ian left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2 million people before aiming for the Atlantic Coast.

One of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the United States barreled across the Florida peninsula overnight Wednesday, threatening catastrophic flooding inland, the National Hurricane Center warned.

In Port Charlotte, along Florida's Gulf Coast, the storm surge flooded a lower-level emergency room in a hospital even as fierce winds ripped away part of the roof from its intensive care unit, according to a doctor who works there.

Water gushed down onto the ICU, forcing staff to evacuate the hospital's sickest patients -- some of whom were on ventilators — to other floors, said Dr. Birgit Bodine of HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital. Staff members used towels and plastic bins to try to mop up the sodden mess.

The medium-sized hospital spans four floors, but patients were forced into just two because of the damage. Bodine planned to spend the night there in case people injured from the storm arrive needing help.

"As long as our patients do OK and nobody ends up dying or having a bad outcome, that's what matters," Bodine said.

Law enforcement officials in nearby Fort Myers received calls from people trapped in flooded homes or from worried relatives. Pleas were also posted on social media sites, some with video showing debris-covered water sloshing toward homes' eaves.

Brittany Hailer, a journalist in Pittsburgh, contacted rescuers about her mother in North Fort Myers, whose home was swamped by 5 feet (1.5 meters) of water.

"We don't know when the water's going to go down. We don't know how they're going to leave, their cars are totaled," Hailer said. "Her only way out is on a boat."

Hurricane Ian turned streets into rivers and blew down trees as it slammed into southwest Florida on Wednesday with 150 mph (241 kph) winds, pushing a wall of storm surge. Ian's strength at landfall was Category 4 and tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane, when measured by wind speed, to ever strike the U.S.

Ian dropped in strength by late Wednesday to Category 1 with 90 mph (144 kph) winds as it moved overland. Still, storm surges as high as 6 feet (2 meters) were expected on the opposite side of the state, in northeast Florida, on Thursday.

And hurricane-force winds were expected across central Florida through early Thursday with widespread, catastrophic flooding likely, the Miami-based hurricane center said.

No deaths were reported in the United States from Ian by late Wednesday. But a boat carrying Cuban migrants sank Wednesday in stormy weather east of Key West.

The U.S. Coast Guard initiated a search and rescue mission for 23 people and managed to find three survivors about two miles (three kilometers) south of the Florida Keys, officials said. Four other Cubans swam to Stock Island, just east of Key West, the U.S. Border Patrol said. Air crews continued to search for possibly 20 remaining migrants.

The storm previously tore into Cuba, killing two people and bringing down the country's electrical grid.

The hurricane's eye made landfall near Cayo Costa, a barrier island just west of heavily populated Fort Myers. As it approached, water drained from Tampa Bay.

More than 2 million Florida homes and businesses were left without electricity, according to the PowerOutage.us site. Nearly every home and business in three counties was without power.

Sheriff Bull Prummell of Charlotte County, just north of Fort Myers, announced a curfew between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. "for life-saving purposes," saying violators may face second-degree misdemeanor charges.

"I am enacting this curfew as a means of protecting the people and property of Charlotte County," Prummell said.

The Weather Underground predicted the storm would pass near Daytona Beach and go into the Atlantic before veering back ashore in South Carolina on Friday.

The governors of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia all preemptively declared states of emergency. Forecasters predicted Ian will turn toward those states as a tropical storm, likely dumping more flooding rains into the weekend.

___

Associated Press contributors include Christina Mesquita in Havana, Cuba; Cody Jackson and Adriana Gomez Licon in Tampa, Florida; Freida Frisaro in Miami; Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida; Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida; Seth Borenstein and Aamer Madhani in Washington; Bobby Caina Calvan in New York; Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus, Ohio; Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama, and Alina Hartounian in Phoenix, Arizona.

All contents © copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


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Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
1  Vic Eldred    2 years ago

One of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the United States barreled across the Florida peninsula overnight Wednesday, threatening catastrophic flooding inland, the National Hurricane Center warned.

Over 2 million people in the state are without power and the films I saw last night showed streets in Ft Myers turned into rivers. All the best to the people of Florida. Fortunately, the storm has been downgraded to a category 1 this morning.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
2  Kavika     2 years ago

5am Thursday.

Hurricane Ian was downgraded to Tropical Storm Ian this morning but still dumping record amounts of rain to bring “catastrophic flooding” across Florida while still packing damaging winds across a 415-mile swath of the state.

 
 
 
shona1
PhD Quiet
2.1  shona1  replied to  Kavika @2    2 years ago

Evening... have fingers and toes crossed for you and hope you are all ok..

Headlines here what is happening there... looking very grim and far from over by the looks of it..

Hang in there and stay safe...

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
2.1.1  Kavika   replied to  shona1 @2.1    2 years ago

All is ok here, shona. But it's very very very wet...It's supposed to rain all day today and clearing this evening. Much of the rest of Florida is getting record rainfall at the moment.

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
2.1.2  devangelical  replied to  Kavika @2.1.1    2 years ago

I talked to a friend in boca raton yesterday and she told me that 1 more day of rain like she was getting and she would start building an ark.

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
3  Vic Eldred    2 years ago

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
4  Kavika     2 years ago

512

The Causeway to Sanibel Island a community of 6,300 was destroyed isolating the town and anyone still on the island that didn't evacuate. 

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
4.1  JohnRussell  replied to  Kavika @4    2 years ago

The sheriff of Lee County went on a national morning show this morning and said he had confirmed that hundreds of people were dead in his county, and that went out on dozens of news sources. 

About an hour later he walked that back. That is some serious misinformation. 

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
4.1.1  Kavika   replied to  JohnRussell @4.1    2 years ago

What he was referring to was a number of 911 calls asking to be rescued and were logged as such. It was badly transmitted to the public by the sheriff.

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
4.1.2  Vic Eldred  replied to  JohnRussell @4.1    2 years ago

That is shocking, considering that Florida officials could take pride in not a single life being lost!

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
4.1.3  JohnRussell  replied to  Kavika @4.1.1    2 years ago

A 911 call is not a fatality by any stretch of the imagination. 

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
4.1.4  Kavika   replied to  JohnRussell @4.1.3    2 years ago

No, it isn't and I have no idea what in the world the sheriff was thinking.

 
 
 
goose is back
Sophomore Guide
4.1.5  goose is back  replied to  JohnRussell @4.1    2 years ago

This Sheriff is either irresponsible, incompetent or has some other motivation.     

 
 
 
Snuffy
Professor Participates
4.1.6  Snuffy  replied to  goose is back @4.1.5    2 years ago

Or giving him the benefit of the doubt,  maybe he had been up for over 24 hours and the mouth was engaged before the brain could catch up?  

 
 
 
Hallux
Masters Principal
4.1.7  Hallux  replied to  Vic Eldred @4.1.2    2 years ago
Florida officials could take pride in not a single life being lost!

So far 9 to 15 and there will surely be more.

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
4.1.8  Vic Eldred  replied to  Hallux @4.1.7    2 years ago

I didn't have my crystal ball Wednesday

 
 
 
Drinker of the Wry
Junior Expert
4.1.9  Drinker of the Wry  replied to  Hallux @4.1.7    2 years ago

Hopefully it won't near the 1,800 killed by Katrina. 

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
4.1.10  Vic Eldred  replied to  Drinker of the Wry @4.1.9    2 years ago

You're pick'en 'em up and laying them down today!  The key ingredient that we needed: wit

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
4.1.11  Kavika   replied to  Drinker of the Wry @4.1.9    2 years ago

Currently, there are 65 confirmed dead, sadly more deaths are expected. There are still numerous homes/apartments/boats that haven't been searched yet. 

 
 
 
Drinker of the Wry
Junior Expert
4.1.12  Drinker of the Wry  replied to  Kavika @4.1.11    2 years ago

I've tried to reach an old friend that lived on Rainbows Meadows Ct in Fort Myers, but haven't heard from him.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
4.1.13  Kavika   replied to  Drinker of the Wry @4.1.12    2 years ago

I got through to my friend in Fort Meyers and he evacuated with his wife and 3 dogs. 

Through a series of phone calls starting in Long Beach CA. to Ocala to Fort Meyers. A friend of mine in Long Beach Ca that worked for me for years called me and asked if I knew anyone in the Seminole tribe and if they were close to Fort Meyers his mother who is 95 and lives alone in a retirement community (mobile homes/manufactured homes) in Fort Meyers and he could not get through to her. The rez drums started and I called my Indian friend in Fort Meyers and told him the story, the one that had already evacuated he in turn got ahold of a friend of his (Indian) told him the story and late on Tuesday he got to the community and got her out and took her to another friends house where she stayed until my LB friends brother could get from Daytona Beach to Fort Meyers to get mom. I spoke to him today and he said he went back to see the community and her home was destroyed. 

The funny part of this was when he got there she didn't know who he was and was hesitant to go with him. He told her his name and he was contacted by another friend who was contacted by Kavika who was contacted by her son, Bob in CA. to come fetch her and get her to a safe place. Her response was classic...''Oh my, I'm being rescued by Indians, isn't that sweet''...Everyone burst out laughing. Thank goodness she is now safe and with her other son who just shook his head and said his brother has some very cool friends. I guess that mom entertained the local Indian community for a couple of days. 

Just a bit of sunshine in an otherwise horrible week for Florida and thousands of families.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
5  Kavika     2 years ago

The true destruction is just coming to light now. Ft. Meyers is basically destroyed and many of the surrounding towns are in the same shape. Orlando is underwater and more rain is still falling we will see a lot more flooding in NE Florida (Jacksonville) with the St. Johns River. 

In Ft. Meyers they still haven't rescued many of the 911 callers since it's impossible to get into some neighborhoods. 

The latest reports are that 15 people have been killed by the storm that they know of.

Ian has crossed into the Atlantic and picked up strength and is now a CAT 1 Hurricane and headed directly at South Carolina.

 
 
 
shona1
PhD Quiet
5.1  shona1  replied to  Kavika @5    2 years ago

Morning..yes I was just looking at the photos of Fort Meyers...not sure where on earth you start...

Going to be along time recovering and rebuilding...

But the most tragic news is the lost souls.🥀

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
5.1.1  Kavika   replied to  shona1 @5.1    2 years ago

The hurricane cut a wide swath of destruction across Florida and there is flooding in Orlando and other cities in central Florida and a lot of damage to some of the beach cities on the Atlantic side. 

Ian has crossed into the Atlantic and is gaining strength and is now a CAT 1 again with aim at South Carolina.

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
5.2  Ender  replied to  Kavika @5    2 years ago

What is weird is I was looking at MSN and not one article about the hurricane.

I take that back, one article about how the ceo of a company wanted the employees to stay...

I have heard more about it from my local news.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
5.2.1  Kavika   replied to  Ender @5.2    2 years ago

CNN has good coverage and of course all of our local stations.

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
5.2.2  Ender  replied to  Kavika @5.2.1    2 years ago

Some communities look completely devastated.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
5.2.3  Kavika   replied to  Ender @5.2.2    2 years ago

They are, Ender. They are going to find a lot more problems than what is visible on first look.

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
5.2.4  Ender  replied to  Kavika @5.2.3    2 years ago

Our state sent over power people yet I think that is going to be a while.

It looks like a lot of what is left of some houses will just have to be torn down.

 
 
 
Jack_TX
Professor Quiet
5.2.5  Jack_TX  replied to  Ender @5.2.4    2 years ago
It looks like a lot of what is left of some houses will just have to be torn down.

I grew up in Florida, and that's exactly what happens.  

A storm comes through and destroys a bunch of houses, the replacements are built to updated hurricane code for wind and flying debris.

But there really isn't much you can do about storm surge.  There's just nowhere to hide.   The highest point in the entire state is like 350ft above sea level, and it's also about 350 feet from Alabama, so it hardly counts.  Water just sweeps over everything.

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
5.2.6  Ender  replied to  Jack_TX @5.2.5    2 years ago

Their response here was in certain areas houses had to be built up on stilts.

 
 
 
Jack_TX
Professor Quiet
5.2.7  Jack_TX  replied to  Ender @5.2.6    2 years ago
Their response here was in certain areas houses had to be built up on stilts.

Yeah... which helps if it's a low-intensity storm.  In a cat-5 hurricane, those stilts are not going to help you.

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
6  Ender    2 years ago

I just heard from some guy on CNN that said it is a law or rule that people in Florida cannot have flood insurance unless their roof is ten years old or under.

To me that would mean most people don't have flood insurance.

 
 
 
Jack_TX
Professor Quiet
6.1  Jack_TX  replied to  Ender @6    2 years ago
I just heard from some guy on CNN that said it is a law or rule that people in Florida cannot have flood insurance unless their roof is ten years old or under. To me that would mean most people don't have flood insurance.

That seems really unlikely.  Roofs are typically covered under a different policy (homeowners), which doesn't cover flooding.

Flood policies are usually part of the National Flood Insurance Program, which has pretty standard rules for issuing coverage..  Lots of lenders require them for homes in flood zones, and they're not that expensive. 

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
6.1.1  Ender  replied to  Jack_TX @6.1    2 years ago

I thought that sounded odd. I never watch cable news.

 
 
 
Jack_TX
Professor Quiet
6.1.2  Jack_TX  replied to  Ender @6.1.1    2 years ago
I thought that sounded odd. I never watch cable news.

In fairness, it seems unrealistic to expect journalists to have working knowledge of all the wide variety of topics on which they have to report.

Hardly anybody actually watches cable news.  Fox, MSNBC, and CNN combined have less than 4 million viewers, which means almost 99% of us are doing something else.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
6.1.3  Kavika   replied to  Jack_TX @6.1    2 years ago
I just heard from some guy on CNN that said it is a law or rule that people in Florida cannot have flood insurance unless their roof is ten years old or under.

That is partially true but has nothing to do with flood insurance, Ender. Many insurance companies in FL are requiring that roofs have to be no older than 10 years. This seems to be being applied to condo builds since the collapse of the condo tower in Miami. 

The second problem in Florida is that numerous companies have pulled out of the market leaving homeowners without insurance. We lost another insurance company a couple of weeks ago. The Florida legislature is trying to come up with something to help with this problem and it's a huge problem in Florida and this billion dollar diaster named Ian is going to add to the problem. 

None of this has anything to do with flood insurance which is a federal program.

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
6.1.4  Ender  replied to  Kavika @6.1.3    2 years ago

I read that back, I guess I should have said wind insurance.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
6.1.5  Kavika   replied to  Ender @6.1.4    2 years ago

That sounds more accurate and it is probably tornado insurance that they are talking about.

Here is a link to the insurance problem that FL has. 

Our homeowner insurance rates are the highest in the country. That is one reason that we don't live on the coast, the cost of insurance and I don't want to be running from a hurricane at 80 years old. Where we live hurricane insurance isn't required because of our location.

Back to the roof question. In Florida the law says that you cannot be refused HO insurance if your roof is 15 years old or has 5 years of life left in it. 

https://www.roofingcontractor.com/articles/97099-new-florida-insurance-laws-impact-on-the-roofing-industry#:~:text=The%20law%20prohibits%20insurance%20companies,refuse%20to%20issue%20a%20policy.

 
 
 
Dismayed Patriot
Professor Quiet
6.1.6  Dismayed Patriot  replied to  Jack_TX @6.1    2 years ago
Roofs are typically covered under a different policy (homeowners), which doesn't cover flooding.

The NFIP policy doesn't exclude the roof but does have a maximum total coverage limit of $250,000 and only covers damage from rising water from outside. In Katrina there was a huge fight over whether the homes that were blown over by winds could be covered under the flood policy since that is normally covered under regular home insurance. So the insurance companies fought in court for the Federal government to pay it as flood damage while the government fought to make the private home insurers pay for it under windstorm coverage.

"This event was excluded from coverage under the plaintiffs' insurance policies, and under Louisiana law, we are bound to enforce the unambiguous terms of their insurance contracts as written," Judge Carolyn King wrote for a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"Regardless of what caused the failure of the flood-control structures that were put in place to prevent such a catastrophe, their failure resulted in a widespread flood that damaged the plaintiffs' property," and policies clearly excluded water damage caused by floods, King wrote.

Court: Insurers not liable for Katrina flood damages - ABC News (go.com)

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
6.1.7  Ender  replied to  Kavika @6.1.5    2 years ago

They told me here because of where I am now that we don't need flood insurance. Not sure I buy that.

I was thinking the average lifespan of a roof was about 20 years.

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
6.1.8  Kavika   replied to  Ender @6.1.7    2 years ago

If your not in a flood plain you do not need flood insurance. You can check on the fed's website.

 
 
 
Jack_TX
Professor Quiet
6.1.9  Jack_TX  replied to  Ender @6.1.7    2 years ago

It's generally a few hundred bucks a year.  So if the peace of mind is worth that, then go ahead.

BTW, homes flood in a variety of ways unrelated to flood plain, including storm drains clogging, water mains breaking, or individual properties developing water collection spots over time that can result in water coming over a slab foundation.

All those are rare, which is why the insurance is cheap.

Important distinction... flood insurance covers water that comes from outside your home.  A burst water heater or interior pipe is covered under your homeowner's insurance.

Further, most homeowner's policies make a distinction between a pipe or water heater bursting and a slow leak in the wall.  The slow leak can cause expensive damage, especially if you have hardwood floors.  They soak up the water over time and then buckle.

Usually, you can add slow leak coverage for a small surcharge.  Personally, I think it's worth it if you have hardwoods.

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
7  Ender    2 years ago

Just going by previous experience, during Katrina, I knew a couple that got trapped in their attic after the flood waters rose. She was traumatized. Said they were stuck up there the water just feet below them, said they could feel the house sway back and forth. Thought they were going to be swept away.

There was a mother and son that ended up clinging to the top a a tree and had to be recused after. The big casino barges, which were frickin huge were swept up on shore.

The old house I lived in, only one wall was left standing.

I know the pain.

 
 

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