A firsthand view into the destruction in Florida caused by Hurricane Ian
St. Johns County, FL administrator Hunter Conrad and Naples, FL business owner Michael McEndree discuss the impact of Hurricane Ian on Florida's businesses on 'Fox News @ Night.'
After restrengthening on Thursday, Hurricane Ian set its sights on the Carolina coast on Friday.
The National Hurricane Center said the storm was forecast to bring life-threatening storm surge, flooding rains and hurricane conditions to the region.
The hurricane will go down in history as tied for the fourth-strongest landfalling hurricane in the Sunshine State.
It made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in southwestern Florida on Wednesday afternoon, including a 140-mile-per-hour gust recorded in Cape Coral.
FOX WEATHER: WHERE IS IAN HEADED NEXT? DANGEROUS STORM'S IMPACTS WILL BE WIDESPREAD
Where is the storm now?
Ian made landfall early Tuesday in Cuba's Pinar del Rio. It brought down the country's electrical grid and killed three people.
The hurricane center said early Friday that Ian was located about 145 miles south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina.
Rescue personnel search a flooded trailer park after Hurricane Ian passed by the area Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Fort Myers, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Maximum sustained winds were reported at 85 miles per hour, with higher gusts.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 485 miles.
The Category 1 storm was moving toward the north-northeast near 9 mph and a turn to the north is expected Friday morning.
Fox Weather said a two-foot storm surge was being reported in Jacksonville.
When is landfall expected again?
Ian will bring life-threatening storm surge and hurricane conditions along the Carolina coast by Friday afternoon.
Flooding rains are likely across the Carolinas and southern Virginia.
First responders with Orange County Fire Rescue use an inflatable boat to rescue a resident from a home in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
The center of the hurricane will approach and reach the coast of South Carolina on Friday and then shift farther inland across eastern South Carolina and central North Carolina on Friday night and on Saturday.
Little change in strength is expected before it reaches the coast and rapid weakening is projected following landfall.
The hurricane is forecast to become an extratropical low over North Carolina on Friday night or on Saturday. The low is then expected to dissipate by Saturday night.
How is Florida responding to the storm?
More than 2 million people in the Sunshine State were without power on Friday morning, according to outage tracker PowerOutage.US.
At least 10 fatalities have been confirmed by officials thus far.
Rescue crews in Florida took to the skies, piloted boats and waded through streets to save residents trapped in flooded homes and buildings decimated by Ian.
Trailer park residents talk in a flooded area after Hurricane Ian passed by Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Fort Myers, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Authorities, who sawed through fallen trees to clear obstructed roadways, scrambled to respond to thousands of 911 calls.
The Sanibel Causeway fell into the sea, cutting off access to the barrier island.
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"We will get through this," said Sanibel Vice Mayor Richard Johnson. "And we’ll come out on the other side better than we were going in."
"Sanibel is destruction," Gov. Ron DeSantis said, adding "it got hit with really biblical storm surge, and it washed away roads it washed away structures that were not new and able to withstand that."
Ian became a hurricane early Monday morning.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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