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The U.S. death toll from Hurricane Ian rose to 27 as the storm, now a post-tropical cyclone, moved north through central North Carolina after battering the South Carolina coast and devastating areas of Florida.
Power was out for more than 300,000 customers in North Carolina and nearly 100,000 in Virginia Saturday morning, according to poweroutage.us.
In South Carolina, nearly 60,000 people were still without power after Ian brought down trees and flooded roads.
Meanwhile, more than 1.2 million people remained without power in Florida as officials assessed damage and continued search and rescue efforts. The storm left a wide trail of destruction across the state, flooding areas on both coasts, tearing homes off their slabs and demolishing beachfront businesses.
President Joe Biden said Friday that Hurricane Ian is “likely to rank among the worst in the nation’s history” and that Florida will take “months, years, to rebuild.”
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► In South Carolina, near Myrtle Beach, the end of the Pawleys Island Pier collapsed and was floating when Ian made landfall, according to a Twitter post from the Pawleys Island Police Department.
► Florida’s Volusia County Community Information Director Kevin Captain said at a press conference Friday afternoon that Daytona International Speedway was flooded by Hurricane Ian. “Even our iconic freeway is under water,” he said.
►Cubans protested for a second night Friday over delays in restoring electricity to the country after Hurricane Ian knocked out power across the island.
Heavy rain affects the central Appalachians in the mid-Atlantic
Heavy rain was forecast Saturday morning for the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic as Ian tracked across central North Carolina and into Virginia, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm is expected to weaken and dissipate over south-central Virginia by Saturday night.
But until then, Ian will bring strong winds and drop 2 to 4 inches of rain with local highs of 6 inches in the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic coast, which may see limited urban flooding and flooding.
Heavy river flooding is expected in parts of central Florida over the next week, but waves seen in the Southeast should subside over the weekend.
Contributing: John Bacon, Thao Nguyen, Jorge Ortiz, Doyle Rice, Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
