On September 28, Hurricane Ian made landfall in the southwest region of Florida and terrorized the state by plowing through infrastructure, flooding homes, and causing chaos. Tropical storm Ian first formed in the central Caribbean on September 23rd and strengthened into a hurricane on September 26. As Ian started to move north, it continued to intensify over warm waters and turned into a Category 3 hurricane. Hurricane Ian sustained wind speeds of 105 mph and was just shy of being categorized as a Category 5 hurricane. Ian ravaged the state of Florida by bringing catastrophic rainfall, forceful winds, and unprecedented storm surges. In fact, more than 3,500 square miles of Florida was covered in 10 or more inches of torrential rain. The United States’ death toll from the hurricane was 132 people, making it the 23rd deadliest hurricane in the United States’ history. One reason for this catastrophic destruction is the amount of perilous development that has recently occurred in Florida (buildings built on former wetlands and too close to sea level).

 

After terrorizing Florida, Hurricane Ian was downgraded to Tropical Storm Ian. Soon, however, it strengthened back into a Category 1 hurricane on September 30th before turning and making landfall in South Carolina, bringing more heavy rain, high winds, and flooding along the coastline. Ian began to weaken once again, becoming a post-tropical cyclone three hours after landfall. The cyclone later dissipated over southern Virginia later on October 1.

 

In all, the storm knocked out power to more than four million customers in Florida, and an additional 1.1 million homes and businesses lost power when the storm plowed through the Carolinas. Furthermore, the Carolinas face recovery costs estimated to be around $47 billion in just insured losses.

Sources:

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2022/10/deaths-from-ian-pass-100-91l-looms/

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/04/us/hurricane-ian-florida-recovery-tuesday