In photos: the damage caused by Hurricane Ian in Florida and Cuba

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• BBC News World

29 September 2022, 12:49 GMT

Updated 57 minutes

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image source, Getty Images

Caption,

Fort Myers, Florida.

Hurricane Ian hit western Florida on Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of more than 150 mph, causing “catastrophic” flooding in several locations.

Ian has also left historic flooding and severe damage in the center of the peninsula and is expected to make landfall once more this Friday in South Carolina.

The storm Wednesday caused a multi-meter-high storm surge that inundated large areas of Southwest Florida, with towns like Fort Myers and Naples that have been devastated in the areas near the coast.

The authorities believe there is hundreds of people trapped in their homes, following failing to follow evacuation orders that were issued prior to the hurricane’s arrival. Some are in areas that are only accessible by bridges that have been destroyed.

President Biden spoke this Thursday from the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to make a first assessment of the disaster.

“It is might be the deadliest hurricane in Florida historyBiden said.

Before passing through Florida, Ian hit western Cuba hard, where it caused severe damage in the province of Pinar del Río.

These are some of the images of the destruction caused by the hurricane.

image source, Getty Images

Caption,

The storm surge carried several boats inland.

image source, Getty Images

Caption,

An area of ​​Fort Myers devastated by the hurricane,

image source, Archyde.com

Caption,

Entire areas of Fort Myers, on the west coast of Florida, were under water.

image source, Getty Images

Caption,

The hurricane hit land with winds of up to 240 km/h.

image source, Getty Images

image source, Getty Images

Caption,

The Fort Myers marina was destroyed.

image source, Archyde.com

Caption,

Several bridges, connecting the various islands in the Fort Myers region, collapsed.

image source, EPA

Caption,

The city of Orlando, in the north of the peninsula, registered historical floods.

image source, Getty Images

Caption,

Residents only had a few hours to prepare due to the hurricane’s final change of track.

image source, Getty Images

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The impact of the winds might be felt several hours before the arrival of the cyclone on land.

image source, Getty Images

image source, Archyde.com

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The tourist and commercial area of ​​Fort Myers experienced severe flooding.

image source, Getty Images

Ian’s visit to Cuba

image source, Archyde.com

Caption,

A Cuban family during the blackout that occurred throughout the island due to Ian’s passage.

image source, Archyde.com

Caption,

There was flooding, destruction and blackouts in Cuba because of Ian.

image source, EPA

Caption,

The province of Pinar del Río is where the hurricane has caused the most damage. 50,000 people had to be evacuated.

image source, Archyde.com

Caption,

The rubble and destruction in the street following Hurricane Ian passed through Pinar del Río.

image source, Archyde.com

Caption,

A man carries his children next to the debris left by Hurricane Ian following passing through Pinar del Río.

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