Jay Cridlin
Tampa Bay Times
(TNS)
Hurricane Ian left Florida on Thursday with untold damage in its wake. Tampa Bay saw some damage to trees, signs and buildings, and power companies are still working to restore power to the half-million here who lost it. But so far, authorities said, no local lives were lost in the storm.
Farther south, the devastation is astonishing: Buildings razed, blocks leveled, boats tossed ashore, communities like Fort Myers Beach and Pine Island ravaged and at least 17 dead. Officials believe that toll will grow in the coming days as rescue workers sift through the wreckage. Here’s how to find help if you need it, or donate aid and assistance if you can.
After weakening to a tropical storm over the Florida peninsula, Ian regained strength in the Atlantic Ocean and is once again a Category 1 hurricane bearing down on South Carolina, with its 8 a.m. track taking it between Charleston and Myrtle Beach on Friday. It’s expected to bring heavy wind and rains up through South and North Carolina through the weekend.
10:21 a.m.
Hurricane Ian is long past Tampa Bay. But its weather effects will linger into the weekend.
As Ian moved away from the area, the storm pulled cooler and drier air over Tampa Bay, said Nicole Carlisle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The Tampa Bay area will see high temperatures Friday of about 80 degrees. At night, temperatures are expected to drop to the mid-60s, according to the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay.
“If you were out walking around or something, assessing damage or whatever, it felt actually quite nice out,” Carlisle said.
— Michaela Mulligan
10:10 a.m.
Tampa International Airport is officially back open for business.
St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport was also scheduled to reopen this morning, though it did not specify a time.
9:38 a.m.
Florida Emergency Management director Kevin Guthrie said at least 21 deaths in Florida may be connected to Hurricane Ian.
One person was confirmed to have died as a direct result of the storm in Polk County, he said. Twelve deaths in Charlotte County and eight in Collier County are not yet confirmed to be storm-related.
Guthrie said rescue workers have identified other situations where there appear to be multiple casualties, including one home where water was over the rooftop, and a U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer discovered an unknown number of “human remains.”
Ian’s death count will rise and fluctuate as medical examiners determine causes of death.
“We just don’t know that number,” Guthrie said.
9:23 a.m.
Some 1.9 million Florida customers are still without power, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday.
That includes 99 percent of customers in Hardee County, 85 percent in Charlotte and Lee, 80 percent in DeSoto, 50 percent in Sarasota, Manatee and Collier, and 15 to 18 percent in Hillsborough and Pinellas.
DeSantis said Florida’s recovery effort now includes 1,000 rescue workers up and down the coastline, with some going farther inland. About 1,300 workers with the Florida Department of Transportation have cleared 1,100 miles of roadway, he said. But bridges going into Sanibel and Pine Island, he said, will be “rebuild efforts.” The state will be running barges to bring equipment onto cut-off islands.
A food and water distribution center has been set up at the Tampa Bay Rays’ spring training facility, Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte. Another is at the Minnesota Twins’ facility, Lee County Sports Complex in Fort Myers.
The state has a website for families to report missing relatives: missing.fl.gov.
9:09 a.m.
Winds from Hurricane Ian knocked an olive tree into a home in Shore Acres in St. Petersburg. Check out the video below.
9:03 a.m.
Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell tweeted this morning that she’ll be meeting with Gov. Ron DeSantis and touring Ian’s devastation in southwest Florida today.
FEMA has made disaster assistance available for people in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota counties, as well as those in Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee and Lee. More information is available at disasterassistance.gov or by calling (800) 621-3362.
8:19 a.m.
Hurricane Ian remains a Category 1 storm as it chugs north about 105 miles from Charleston, South Carolina, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 8 a.m. advisory.
A 2- to 4-foot storm surge warning remains in effect for parts of Florida, including the St. Johns River and everything north of the Flagler-Volusia county line.
7:55 a.m.
Many of the colorful cottages, boutiques and restaurants that made the artsy little Lee County fishing village of Matlacha famous and fun are gone or battered now, swallowed by surge or broken by wind.
The U.S. Census puts the population of Matlacha, which consists of a cluster of funky pastel Key West-style buildings on either side of a two-lane road, at about 850 people.
Boats have been flung into yards, homes flung into water. Kayaks hang in mangroves like ornaments. Mud covers broken pottery and furniture.
And Thursday, just a day after Category 4 Hurricane Ian tore through Matlacha, a body floated in front of the ruins of one home. Stunned residents say others have been found.
— Joey Flechas and Matias J. Ocner, Miami Herald
7:46 a.m.
As storm surge possibilities continue across Florida, the National Weather Service has issued flood warnings for the Manatee River in Manatee County, the Alafia River at Lithia in Hillsborough County and the Little Manatee River at Wimauma at U.S. 301 in Hillsborough County.
The National Weather Service says if you encounter a flooded road, do not drive through it. Most flood deaths occur in cars, the Weather Service said. Do not walk through flood waters, and be aware of any downed power lines in floods.
— Michaela Mulligan
7:17 a.m.
Now that Hurricane Ian has passed, Florida’s schools are getting ready to restart instruction.
In the Tampa Bay area, schools will reopen Monday, so long as all power is restored. Citrus County also expected to get back Monday, the Citrus County Chronicle reports.
Some districts, such as Palm Beach County, planned to get back to classes even sooner, the Palm Beach Post reports. Broward and Miami-Dade county schools also were on track to reopen today, the Miami Herald reports. On the Treasure Coast, Indian River County schools prepared to reopen today, while Martin and St. Lucie counties had to hold off because of power outages, TC Palm reports.
Others, including Duval County, said they would wait until the weekend to determine when to bring students back, the Florida Times-Union reports.
— Jeffrey S. Solochek
7:06 a.m.
The City of Tampa says all of its offices, including parks and recreation facilities and classes, will resume on Monday.
Hillsborough County parks and recreation, including boat ramps, will reopen Saturday.
6:37 a.m.
It took only 36 hours from Ian to grow from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane. It’s a dangerous phenomenon that climate change may make more common in future hurricane seasons.
“It’s too early to say exactly how climate change affected this one storm,” said Kieran Bhatia, a climate researcher at Princeton University who studies hurricanes. “But, on average, we’ve seen multiple studies that show the conditions in the North Atlantic basin are providing more opportunities for storms to intensify.”
There are three main factors that lead to rapid intensification: warm waters, stable atmospheric conditions, and high humidity in the middle layers of the atmosphere. All three will be exacerbated by climate change.
6:28 a.m.
Rivers across Tampa Bay are seeing elevated water levels on Friday morning, with at least two reaching flood stage.
The Little Manatee River near U.S. 301 in Wimauma was in major flood stage, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, decreasing slightly but still gauging near 17.5 feet. The Alafia River near Lithia Pinecrest Road in Lithia was at 17.5 feet and rising.
Other sections of the Little Manatee and Alafia were at record highs, as were sections of the Cypress Creek tributary near Wesley Chapel and the East Lake outfall near Orient Road in Tampa. More than 20 other areas were above normal.
Monitor local stream and river levels here.
6 a.m.
In Bonita Springs in Lee County on Thursday, the streets, sidewalks and lawns were buried under at least two feet of wet sand and covered in a lattice of downed power lines.
Many residents were home to watch their belongings float out toward the Gulf of Mexico. And if they weren’t, they had to get through a battalion of law enforcement checkpoints if they wanted to return Thursday.
Julie Walton had to fight back tears as she watched her grandchildren gather the little pieces of her home into a big pile in the front yard. She wasn’t crying for the stuff, she said.
“I can’t even think about what could have happened last night,” she said. “Our whole family, all of our grandkids, could have been washed away.”
