Storm re-intensifies as it aims for South Carolina after ‘historic’ damage to Florida

With Ian moving back out to sea, thousands of Floridians will be looking to return to assess damage and begin cleaning up their homes, but the recovery period after a storm can carry some of the highest risks for injury or sickness, according to FEMA.

Here’s what to know about staying safe during the cleanup phase.

• Don’t rush home, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged residents in a tweet Thursday afternoon. Crews need the streets open to clear debris and restore power, and roads may still be dangerous. “Avoid downed power lines, floodwater, downed trees, and do not drive in standing water,” he added.
• Wait for official clearance to reenter your home. Authorities should inspect your home for structural damage and hazards from electricity or gas before you go inside, according to the CDC. Make sure your power is turned off at the main breaker or fuse box, but call a professional if you must stand in water to reach the switch. Avoid using lights and other electric devices, and do not smoke or create an open flame due to the risk of a gas leak.
• Wear protective clothing to avoid dangers from sharp objects and disease. The CDC recommends a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, heavy work gloves and steel-toed boots for cleanup work. You should also don a hard hat and goggles, as well as a mask rated at N95 or better for protection against exposure to mold and bacteria. If you’re working with sewage, be sure to wear rubber boots, gloves and goggles.
• Take photos for your insurance company before beginning cleanup. Be sure to flag any notes from the professional inspector, FEMA recommends.
• Disinfect or throw out anything touched by floodwater. The water can contain dangerous germs from overflowing sewage and agricultural waste. Throw away any food that has had contact with floodwater or has not been properly refrigerated due to power outages, the CDC recommends. “When in doubt, throw it out,” the agency urges. Keep your kids safe by disinfecting toys and throwing away stuffed animals.
• Take steps to prevent mold growth. If you are not able to completely dry out your home and remove all water-damaged items within 24 to 48 hours of a flood, you should assume mold has started to grow, according to the CDC. FEMA and the CDC recommend five steps for post-flood restoration: (1) air out, opening as many windows and doors as you can; (2) move out, removing anything that can’t be completely dried out and putting it outside; (3) tear out, taking out any drywall and insulation contaminated by floodwater; (4) clean out, disinfecting all wet items and surfaces with bleach and removing any visible mold; and (5) dry out, drying all cleaned surfaces immediately.
• Stay safe in the days ahead. Watch out for snakes or other animals that could have been carried into your home. Do not use generators, pressure washers or other gas-burning devices in your home or within 20 feet of open windows. If there is a boil-water advisory, be sure to boil all water used for drinking and washing hands according to CDC guidelines. Avoid any standing floodwater or mud, which can contain dangerous bacteria or chemicals.

Walt Disney World will reopen its theme parks gradually Friday after a two-day closure due to Hurricane Ian, which brought flooding to Central Florida after lashing the southwest part of the state.

The resort said Thursday afternoon that operations at its four theme parks and Disney Springs, a shopping and entertainment center, would resume “in a phased approach” starting Friday. Hours will be updated online later Thursday, a statement said.

“We continue to closely monitor weather conditions as we assess the impact of Hurricane Ian on our property,” the statement said. “While theme parks and many operating areas remain closed to guests today, we anticipate weather conditions to improve this evening.”

Collier County in Florida imposed a 10 p.m. curfew on residents until further notice, the county sheriff’s office announced late Thursday. The curfew will remain active each night until 6 a.m.

“There is much unknown left to face with rising waters, debris in roads and many people have evacuated their homes and businesses,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook. “We do not want criminals preying on our residents and businesses at one of the most vulnerable times in their life.”

Collier County, which has a population of about 386,000 people, suffered serious damage Thursday as storm surges from Hurricane Ian overwhelmed several areas. A fire rescue department in Naples was severely flooded, with station trucks submerged about halfway underwater. Video footage showed fire department members wading through water up to their waist.

Lee County Utilities issued a boil water notice Thursday, advising the public to bring water to a “roiling boil” for one minute before using it for drinking, cooking, making ice or brushing teeth.

“If you cannot boil water due to lack of power, use bottled or purify your water first,” the Lee County government said on its website. The county includes the city of Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach, two areas that have emerged as some of the hardest-hit during Hurricane Ian so far, with video footage showing toppled trees, overturned boats and buildings turned to rubble.

The pilot has zipped through hurricanes for a decade, in an Air Force career that spanned so many operations that it was impossible to recollect exactly how many sorties Maj. Kendall Dunn had flown.

His early Wednesday flight, a mission to pierce the eye of Hurricane Ian and gather vital data for weather scientists, will probably stay with Dunn for some time, he said. And that is sort of the problem.

“I kind of want to write this one out of my head so I can keep doing this job,” Dunn said in an interview, still coming down from what he described as the single most turbulent flight he had ever experienced. “We literally got rocked.”

More than 2.3 million customers in Florida were without power Thursday evening , according to PowerOutage.us, after Hurricane Ian battered the state’s western coast.

Power was almost entirely lost in Hardee, Lee and Charlotte counties, according to the site, which tracks outages across the state, and large swaths of the population generally lost power across counties in the southwest.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said at a news conference Thursday evening that 200,000 accounts had been restored in southwest Florida. The state staged 42,000 linemen ahead of the storm to repair power lines.

Survivors picked through Hurricane Ian’s scattered wreckage at the foot of the bridge leading to Fort Myers Beach on Thursday: massive tour and shrimp boats run aground next to homes; restaurants and trailers ripped open and inundated with rivers of gray-brown mud.

Residents walked among the remains of their homes, stunned.

Shrimp captain Leonard Hunte, 77, survived the storm by clinging to a piece of debris that floated by his mobile home: a Styrofoam staircase that then lodged in a tree Hunte and his nephew clung to.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said state officials “absolutely expect to have mortality” from Hurricane Ian, though he said the death toll remains unconfirmed as of Thursday evening.

“I know that people have said certain things — in terms of confirmed, that will be made apparent over the coming days,” he said.

More than 700 people have been rescued by emergency personnel, the governor added, with rescuers still going door-to-door and responding to requests for help.

He spoke at a news conference Thursday evening after touring devastated areas of Charlotte and Lee counties on Florida’s southwest coast. He called the damage there “almost indescribable,” with homes ripped off their foundations and cars floating in the street.