<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Hurricane Ian unleashed "historic" devastation in Florida, leaving a yet unknown number of dead in its wake, officials said Thursday, as the storm regrouped in the Atlantic on a path toward the Carolinas.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The storm, one of the most powerful ever to hit the United States, left hundreds of people in need of rescue, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said, while warning it was still too early to get a clear picture of how many people had died.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We absolutely expect to have mortality from this hurricane," he said at a press conference Thursday evening.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">President Joe Biden, after a briefing at FEMA emergency management headquarters in Washington, said "this could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida history."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The numbers "are still unclear, but we're hearing reports of what may be substantial loss of life," he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">DeSantis said concrete information about casualty numbers could be expected "in the coming days."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fort Myers, where Ian made landfall as a powerful Category 4 hurricane on Wednesday, took much of the brunt of the storm, as streets became rivers and sea water poured into houses.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dozens of boats moored in the marina were sunk while others were tossed on to downtown streets.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Trees were toppled by the howling winds of up to 150 miles per hour (240 kilometers per hour).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier on Thursday, DeSantis described the destruction in the southwest part of the state as a "500-year flood event."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We've never seen storm surge of this magnitude," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>- 'Horrifying' -</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tom Johnson, 54, of Fort Myers had a front row seat to the destruction from his apartment on the second floor of a two-story harbourside building.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I was scared because I've never been through that," Johnson told AFP. "It was just the most horrifying sounds with debris flying everywhere, doors flying off."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">His home was undamaged but one of his neighbors, Janelle Thil, 42, was not so lucky and had to ask other residents for help after her ground floor apartment began to flood.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"They got my dogs and then I jumped out of the window and swam," Thil said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When Thil returned to her apartment after the storm passed, she said she opened the door and "had to wait about five minutes for all the floodwaters to come out."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I loved my home," she said. "But I'm alive and that's what matters."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to DeSantis, the area was also dealing with a water main break, which officials were "working to trouble shoot."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A US Coast Guard official said helicopter crews were plucking people from the rooftops of homes inundated by floodwaters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nine migrants had been rescued from a boat that sank during the hurricane on Wednesday, leaving 18 missing, the Coast Guard said. Among them were four Cubans who swam to shore in the Florida Keys.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>- Ian regaining strength -</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm overnight but the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said it regained Category 1 hurricane strength on Thursday afternoon and issued a hurricane warning for the entire coast of South Carolina and part of North Carolina.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Biden declared a "major disaster" in Florida, a move that frees up federal funding for storm relief.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We're continuing to take swift action to help the families of Florida," he tweeted. "I want the people of Florida to know that we will be here at every step of the way."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Much of Florida's southwest coast was plunged into darkness after the storm wiped out power.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tracking website poweroutage.us said 2.3 million homes and businesses remained without electricity in the so-called Sunshine State late Thursday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Two barrier islands near Fort Myers, Pine Island and Sanibel Island, popular with vacationers, were essentially cut off when the storm damaged causeways to the mainland.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sanibel Island got "hit with really biblical storm surge," DeSantis said, and rescuers were using boats and helicopters to evacuate residents who rode out the storm.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mandatory evacuation orders had been issued in many areas of Florida ahead of Ian, with several dozen shelters set up.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Airports stopped all commercial flights, and cruise ship companies delayed or canceled voyages.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Before pummeling Florida, Ian plunged all of Cuba into darkness Tuesday after downing the island's power network.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At least two people died in Pinar del Rio province, state media in the country of more than 11 million reported.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Human activity has caused life-threatening climate change resulting in more severe weather events across the globe. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>