Hurricane Ian caused “catastrophic” flooding and power outages in Florida, arriving yesterday after passing through Cuba, killing two people. The wind speed caused by this phenomenon rose from 56 km / h to 240 km / h in an interval of just under three hours, reaching the territory of the United States in Category 4.
It lost intensity during the night, when winds dropped to 120 km/h and the hurricane was downgraded to Category 1 by the country’s NHC (National Hurricane Center).
in NaplesIn southwest Florida photos of the channel MSNBC It showed the streets completely submerged in water and cars floating in the stream while it was there Fort The Myers floods have turned some neighborhoods into lakes. In addition, about two million homes were left without electricity across the state.
Now, Ian is expected to travel through the state’s interior, appear over the Atlantic Ocean and end up affecting the states of Georgia and South Carolina, according to NHC forecasts.
This year, the hurricane season, which runs from June to November, was considered to be of lower intensity in terms of the number of events, compared to previous periods. However, the movement and rapid growth of Hurricane Ian, the fourth of the season, shows how difficult it is for major deadly hurricanes to emerge.
In a very short time, the tropical storm, which formed in the Caribbean Sea, turned into a Category 4 hurricane, penultimate on the scale of 1 to 5. Until then, only 6% of hurricanes showed this rapid intensification.
Ian is already considered one of the most powerful people to hit Florida in history. Meteorologists have noted that Category 4 hurricanes are not uncommon in the Gulf of Mexico. The last recorded was a Charlie missile, 16 years ago, which hit the East Coast in the same category.
Some areas of Florida record floods over 5 meters in height. The impact should last longer, even though the hurricane has retreated to Category 1. The additional reason that puts authorities on alert is that many residents haven’t left the areas of greatest risk, even after repeated warnings.
Scientists have warned that rising ocean waters and global temperatures tend to increase the frequency of extreme weather events. This paradigm shift requires strengthening the authorities’ ability to react in order to protect the population in the path of these hurricanes.
In addition to Hurricane Ian, Typhoon Noru, which hit Vietnam yesterday, showed the same pattern – a rapid blast of wind strength, from Category 1 to Category 5 in a matter of hours.
* With information from AFP and RFI
