Hurricane Ian strengthens, aim at South Carolina after Florida
A life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds from Hurricane Ian are expected to arrive soon in South Carolina as it barrels toward the state's coast.
Just under 65,000 homes and businesses are without power in South Carolina as of early Saturday, after Hurricane Ian slammed the state Friday afternoon, according to the website PowerOutage.us.
Ian reached land at 2:05 p.m. as a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone about three hours after making the second landfall, but officials in both South Carolina and Florida warned that Ian and its aftermath pose grave danger.
By Friday night, the storm was headed for North Carolina and Virginia, bringing threats of "considerable" flooding, the center said.
The hurricane pounded parts of Florida on Wednesday as a Category 4 storm, devastating communities and leaving at least 23 people dead, with more than half in Lee County, state officials said.
Rating: 5