Residents across the south-eastern US were beginning the clean-up from Hurricane Idalia on Thursday as Joe Biden signed a major disaster declaration for Florida and the weakened but still powerful tropical storm dumped torrents of rain in North Carolina and Virginia.
The worst of the devastation was evident along Florida’s Gulf coast, where Idalia tore ashore on Wednesday as a category 3 hurricane with gusts of 160mph and sent a surge of seawater of up to 16ft far inland through vulnerable low-lying communities.
Roofs were torn from some buildings, houses were submerged by water from the Gulf of Mexico and flash flooding, and thousands of downed trees and power lines littered a trail from Florida’s west coast to Wilmington, North Carolina.
Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, toured some of the worst-hit areas on Thursday afternoon with Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and said he was “heartbroken” at what he saw.
He said there was one confirmed fatality in a storm-related traffic accident.
Hurricane Idalia could become 2023’s costliest climate disaster for the USRead more
Torrential rain and significant inland and coastal flooding, meanwhile, continued in Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia, as forecasters warned that the grip of Idalia, still a tropical storm with winds of 65mph, would not be fully loosened until late Thursday or early Friday.
Biden’s signature on the major disaster declaration frees federal funds to reimburse state and local authorities, and individuals, for rebuilding. But he warned in an afternoon press conference at the White House that funding was not unlimited.
“We’re going to need a whole hell of a lot more money,” he said in reference to congressional pushback against Fema’s need for more relief funds after recent natural disasters including fires on the island of Maui in Hawaii.
Analysts said that Idalia, which unofficially is being blamed for the deaths of two motorists in Florida, and a man trying to clear a felled tree in Georgia, could become the costliest climate disaster to affect the US this year, with an initial estimated price tag up to $20bn.
01:30Hurricane Idalia leaves trail of destruction and flooding in its wake in Florida – video
DeSantis and Criswell visited Cedar Key, which was submerged for several hours on Wednesday, Horseshoe Beach and Steinhatchee, three of the most badly affected areas.
“I’ve seen a lot of really heartbreaking damage. When people lose a church, when they lose their home, when they lose a business … this was really the day after the impact [and] it was very raw,” he said.
“When you have your whole life’s work into, say, a business and it ends up under 5ft of water, that’s a lot of work you’ve got to do. It was very difficult to see. I know it’s not easy now. I know it’s going to be a lot of work. But we will get everyone back on their feet.”
Criswell said before-and-after satellite imagery was…
2023-08-31 14:31:06
Link from www.theguardian.com