Update:

The destruction caused by hurricane Ian has devastated Florida and lowers parts of Georgia and other states nearby. Unfortunately, the current known death total due to hurricane Ian is 126 victims. Of those victims, many were older which made it harder for them to get out of the storm’s path.

The National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS) has called the disastrous hurricane, “a high-end category storm,” explaining that the storm reached from Jamaica all the way to South Carolina a mind-jaring 1,111 miles.

While the storm is over, the suffering is not. The Red Cross has recently made it into local participating stores and onto popular websites like Amazon to reach out to people for donations because of the hurricane.

The Office of Insurance Regulation has released as of October 2 that, “insurers have reported a total of $1,445,283,629 in estimated insured losses and a total of 186,680 claims.”

However, this does not include the number of uninsured losses. Those who did have insurance will continue to struggle until those claims are not only verified, but also their homes, cars, and businesses can be repaired or replaced.

You can find more information and donate to help those affected by Hurricane Ian at https:///donate/hurricane-ian-donations.html/ .

Hurricane Ian hit the east coast around 11 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on Sept. 28 and it has not backed down. Earlier reports noted that the hurricane has slowed down, however that does not help the residents of Florida and parts of the states around it.

The slower that hurricane Ian gets the longer it will continue, leaving speculation around the time the hurricane will cease. It doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.

ABC news photos show the category 4 hurricane is causing winds of around 150mph, as of 2 hours ago. However, the wind gusts might be able to reach speeds of 190mph. These speeds are so high, the severity is almost category 5.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis just spoke on live TV a few minutes ago about the areas that have to be evacuated. “You are going to see more power outages as this storm moves through the center part of our state and before it exits to the Atlantic Coast,” Desantis stated. He also spoke about the deployment of mobile cellphone towers to help residents communicate with help.

The people of Florida are currently experiencing waves up to 16ft in the Fort Myers area, and flooding that continues as we speak. The hurricane has caused many power outages, leaving as many as 728,000 residents without power in their homes, according to CBSNews.

Florida Power & Light is posting updates on Twitter informing the public that once it is safe to try and do repairs they will. They also are encouraging residents to, “Prepare & Stay Safe.”

The US Department of Defense has prepared the Florida National Guard to make safe routes for the public to get out faster and get to safer places. The D.O.D. has also created a spotlight on Hurricane Preparedness, hoping that residents will keep it in mind.

Hurricane Ian is not nearly over at all, this means more outages, more damage, and more flooding for those who live in Florida. However, the storm also hit Cuba, leaving the country struggling to get power back on after 125mph winds.

Luckily, there have been no reported casualties yet, and I hope it stays that way as the storm continues.