As Hurricane Ian dissipates, the long term effects remain. Widespread search and rescue missions are being executed throughout Florida and the Carolinas.

As of last Sunday, 87 people have been confirmed dead. This number is expected to rise as the search and rescues continue. The effects of this storm can been seen through the number of fatalities alone. However, this number doesn’t account for the thousands of others who were affected. Many are now homeless due to the destruction. Others face thousands of dollars of damage to their homes. It is pretty much safe to say that this hurricane is one of the most destructive in recent history. “We pre-positioned the largest amount of search-and-rescue assets that I think we’ve ever put in place before,” the FEMA administrator said. This shows the amount of damage this hurricane has done. Even the FEMA administrator acknowledges that this hurricane’s aftermath is some of the worst they have seen and they have seen a lot.

FEMA and the US Coast Guard continue to work with Florida officials to rescue all people who have not been accounted for. As of today, over 1,000 rescues have been made in Florida. “There’s been a great outpouring of support and I’ve seen a lot of resilience in this community of people that want to pick themselves up and they want to get their communities back on their feet,” Governor Ron DeSantis said. He as well as the rest of the Florida state government have been scrambling to help the state get back on it’s feet. “We’ll be here,” he said, “and we’ll be helping every step of the way.” While Florida got the worst part of the hurricane, there were other states affected as well.

North and South Carolina got the tail end of the destructive hurricane weather. Flooding and power outages are seen across both Carolinas. Not only this, but at least four were confirmed dead from the hurricane in North Carolina. This shows the power of a hurricane. Not only was it able to make it across Florida and maintain its power, but it was also able to cause major damage to the Carolinas toward the end of its life.

Hurricane season always opens our eyes the the destruction that hurricanes can cause. For people who live inland, such as us, it shows us the reality of living on the coast. While the oceans, sand, and sun may be great, you take a risk living near a place that has a high chance of hurricanes.