Hurricane Ian Strikes Florida; Causes Widespread devastation
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images
Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida on Sept. 28. With winds over 240 km/hr, it was labeled as a Category 4 hurricane, being one of the strongest hurricanes in the US on record.
The deadly storm initially reached Cuba on Sept. 26, and was recorded as a Category 3 hurricane at the time, taking out the island’s power grid. When Ian reached Florida, homes were obliterated in its path. An evacuation was issued in 12 counties to protect the citizens in the area.
Many communities had hospitals and clinics shut down, a lack of medication from the quick evacuation, and carbon monoxide poisoning due to unsafe usages of generators. The death toll from Ian has reached over 110, with Floridians over 60 being impacted the most.
Hurricane Ian made a significant impact on the environment and land as well. Jennifer Hecker, executive director of the Coastal & Heartland National Estuary Partnership, noted to The Washington Post, that there was “[a]n incredible extent of physical debris. There are thousands and thousands of boats and cars. Chemical debris, bacterial nutrients.”
The large amount of debris scattered across Florida due to damages to buildings and land will require a major clean up. Asphalt roads make up a significant part of the clean up due to their difficulty.
“Having to deal with this is a real headache. It is very hard to clean up because the asphalt breaks up into pieces,” said former director of the Florida Park Service, Eric Draper, to The Washington Post.
Responses to the storm have included providing evacuees with medicines, mental health support, emergency funds for health clinics, hygiene supplies, tetanus vaccinations, relief kits, and clean water. Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were provided to over 773,500 households at risk of being impacted by the hurricane. As the storm’s path was foreseen, zones that were predicted to be damaged prepared citizens to evacuate.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images | NASA via Associated Press
The costs towards recovery and rebuilding the community are estimated by CoreLogic, a research firm, to be upwards of $47 billion USD. In comparison, Hurricane Andrew cost an estimated $55.7 billion USD and Hurricane Katrina cost $163 billion USD, adjusted for inflation. According to these estimates, Hurricane Ian would be Florida’s second most expensive storm ever.
NASA has revealed data of how warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico likely contributed to how powerful Hurricane Ian grew. On Florida’s southwest coast, the sea surface was particularly warmer and allowed the storm to pull out more energy. As a storm loses moisture and energy as it travels inland, it weakens. However in this case, Ian was able to sustain itself for longer because of how much energy it was able to pick up from the ocean.
The waters were only two to three degrees warmer than average for the time of year and it made a big difference. Climate scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Karthik Balaguru, told ABC News those few degrees are just more fuel for the storm.
According to Balaguru’s recent research in the Geophysical Research Letters, climate change doesn’t necessarily cause more hurricanes, but it does make them stronger. Heating of the ocean is difficult, therefore a few degrees warmer is all it took to strengthen and make the storm last longer. Warmer waters caused more rainfall, worsening flooding.