Hurricane Ian is gaining strength and veering towards the Carolinas – with uncertainty over how many fatalities the storm has caused in Florida.
This is one of the strongest-ever storms to hit the US – and emergency crews are trying to reach stranded Floridians after Ian cut a path of destruction across the state.
Over 2.6 million power outages have been reported, with officials warning of treacherous floodwaters.
There was virtually no mobile phone service in some areas, and internet connectivity was also affected.
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Florida’s devastation seen from above
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stopped short of confirming how many people have been killed, but said: “We fully expect to have mortality from this hurricane.”
And President Joe Biden said: “The numbers are still unclear, but we’re hearing early reports of what may be substantial loss of life.”
At least nine people have died following Hurricane Ian’s vicious lashing throughout Florida, according to an NBC News tally – although some other organisations place the number higher.
Two of the fatalities occurred in Sarasota, according to the county’s sheriff’s department. One person was confirmed dead in Volusia County and six more in Charlotte County.
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Identifications have not been released and the state of Florida has refused to officially comment on fatalities.
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Biden: Storm could be ‘deadliest in Florida’s history’
‘It crushed us’
According to NBC News, at least 12 deaths have been linked to Hurricane Ian in Florida so far.
A 72-year-old man died after he went outside during the storm to drain his pool.
The sheriff of one of the hardest-hit areas – Lee County – told US media that deaths could be “in the hundreds” and that he had received thousands of 911 calls.
“It crushed us,” Sheriff Carmine Marceno said. “We still cannot access many of the people that are in need.”
There are fears that many in the hardest-hit areas were unable to call for help because of the outages to power and mobile phone networks.
Image: The devastated town of Fort Myers Beach in Florida
It’s not over yet – where is Ian heading next?
Ian is now back in the Atlantic Ocean, but is expected to make landfall again at 2pm local time (7pm UK time) later today as a category one hurricane.
Forecasts suggest it will bring life-threatening flooding, storm surge, strong winds and potentially landslides and tornadoes to Georgia as well as North and South Carolina.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is urging residents to take precautions, and warned: “This storm is still dangerous.”
A hurricane warning is in effect for hundreds of miles of coastline.
In South Carolina, the city of Charleston is particularly at risk. A report commissioned by local officials suggests 90% of all residential properties are vulnerable to storm surge flooding.
Image: The partially collapsed Sanibel Causeway in Sanibel Island
Florida’s ‘historic’ damage
Mr DeSantis called the damage in Florida “historic” – and disaster officials believe thousands could be displaced in the long term.
Walt Disney World and other tourist attractions in central Florida appeared to have avoided severe damage from Ian, but many businesses on the state’s southwestern coast – also a tourist hotspot – were destroyed and face a long rebuilding process.
Mr Biden has declared a major disaster, releasing federal funds to pay for measures such as temporary housing for those displaced.
Image: People paddle board through floodwaters in Orlando
Ian was a category four storm with winds up to 150mph when it struck southwest Florida on Wednesday, making it the joint fifth-strongest hurricane to hit the US.
At least 700 confirmed rescues have taken place across the state, with first responders going from door to door in Ian’s aftermath.
Locals are being urged to take care when using chainsaws and ladders – with emergency officials warning the number of “indirect deaths” during the clean-up could exceed fatalities caused by the hurricane itself.
Most schools in Florida are expected to reopen today or on Monday, and flights from Orlando Airport are set to resume in the coming hours.
‘Climate change means more storms like Ian’
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How climate change is fuelling hurricanes
Preliminary reports from scientists who study extreme weather suggest human-caused climate change increased Hurricane Ian’s rainfall by 10%.
A warmer atmosphere can contain more water vapour. Researcher Michael Wehner of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said: “Climate change didn’t cause the storm, but it did cause it to be wetter.”
MIT atmospheric scientist Kerry Emanuel added: “This business about very, very heavy rain is something we’ve expected to see because of climate change.
Police in Tenerife have called for volunteers to take part in a large-scale search for missing British teenager Jay Slater.
Officials said it would take place on Saturday in the village of Masca on the Spanish island.
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Volunteers called for in Jay Slater search
In a statement, police said: “The Guardia Civil prepares and coordinates a large search to find the young British man missing in the village of Masca.
“The collaboration of all those volunteer associations is requested: Civil protection, firefighters, etc., and even private volunteers who are experts in the abrupt search terrain.
“The massive search will be carried out on Saturday, 29 June from 9am.
“Bearing in mind that this is an abrupt, rocky area, full of unevenness and with a multitude of ravines, paths and roads, the collaboration of all those associations of volunteers who can help in this raid that is intended to be carried out in a directed and coordinated manner is requested,” the statement said.
Image: The Los Carrizales ravine which was being searched by police. Pic: Reuters
Image: Canarian police officers carry out a drone search in the Los Carrizales ravine. Pic: Reuters
Police said volunteers should call the Guardia Civil before 8pm this evening if they want to join the search.
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The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared following an attempt to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus.
The apprentice bricklayer had attended the NRG music festival on the island with two friends before his disappearance and was last heard from on Monday last week.
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Police search mountains for Jay Slater
The walk from Mr Slater’s last known location, Rural de Teno Park in the north of the island, to his accommodation would have taken about 11 hours on foot.
Image: Map showing Jay Slater’s last known location in Masca, Los Carrizales where police are searching and Los Cristianos, where Jay was staying
Meanwhile, one of Mr Slater’s friends told ITV’s This Morning about his last video call with the 19-year-old.
Brad, a close friend of Mr Slater, said yes to the reporter’s question as to whether he saw the missing teenager’s feet slide on rocks. He said that is how he knew Mr Slater was not on a road, and described the sound as when someone is walking on gravel or stones.
Brad added that Mr Slater went down a “little drop” in one of his last video calls.
He said the missing teenager was not concerned and that they were both “laughing” about the situation.
“He said, ‘look where I am’. He didn’t seem concerned on the phone until we knew how far away he were,” Brad said.
“I said, ‘put your location on’. He said: ’15-minute drive, 14-hour walk’. I don’t know if it’s accurate or not so I said to him: ‘It’s only a 15-minute drive, get a taxi’.”
New search could be the final push
Shingi Mararike, Sky News correspondent, in Tenerife
Almost as soon we arrived today to cover the search for Jay Slater in this sprawling national park on the outskirts of Tenerife, things felt different.
The police presence was smaller, with fewer vehicles and officers. They appeared to have stopped searching the caves and ravines they’d honed in on earlier this week.
Instead, the small team of officers drove towards some of nearby hamlets along the twisting, narrow road, before turning around and coming back to the observation point near where Jay’s phone is thought to have been last located.
There, they stopped for an animated discussion. As they gestured towards parts of the rural, arid landscape, it was clear they were coordinating and planning.
Then, within minutes, came an update from the Civil Guard. Tomorrow, at 9am they would be re-doubling their efforts to find Jay, working with other emergency services and even inviting the help of volunteers with experience in traversing difficult terrain.
That landscape presents a clear challenge, but another issue for those searching tomorrow will be just how busy the area of Masca is.
It’s a compact town full of hikers and tourists, a busy place from early in the morning.
The search party will have to navigate all of these obstacles as they attempt to retrace the teenager’s last-known steps and find clues for what may have happened to him.
Tomorrow marks the 13th day searching for Jay Slater and this is perhaps a final push from the Civil Guard to make some kind of headway.
Even with more resource and manpower, it will be a gruelling day for all those involved.
Today’s police statement comes as Mr Slater’s family welcomed the help of a TikTok creator among those leading an online search for the missing teenager.
Sky News spoke earlier this week to Paul Arnott, who has been sharing clips of his own search effort on TikTok and said he came to Tenerife when he heard the family “needed help”.
According to The Daily Telegraph, his efforts attracted the interest of Mr Slater’s family, who contacted him and arranged a meeting on Thursday.
Image: Jay Slater is an apprentice bricklayer. Pic: PH Build Group
“They said they’re really proud of what I’m doing,” Mr Arnott, 29, told the newspaper.
Mr Slater’s mother, Debbie Duncan, told the paper she has “every faith” in the police and singled out Mr Arnott, who runs the TikTok account Down the Rapids and describes himself as an “explorer”, and another TikTok creator Callum Rahim for thanks.
Social media has also had a dark side for the family, with Ms Duncan and her son’s friends at the centre of conspiracy theories.
The construction company that employs Mr Slater shared a post on Facebook earlier on Thursday urging people to stop sending them “cruel” emails and to stop posting theories online.
Also on Thursday, Ms Duncan said £36,000 raised by more than 3,200 donations will help cover her accommodation and food costs during her extended stay on the island as well as support rescue teams.
A British man has died off the Greek island of Spetses.
He had been taking part in a yachting regatta and authorities said he was found dead on Friday.
The man, who was in his forties, was found in a bay area of the island with what appeared to be injuries on the left side of his head, according to the coastguard.
The Greek island, which is part of the Saronic Islands group, has an area of 27km² and is home to just over 3,700 people.
The coastguard added that he was taken to a local hospital where he was confirmed dead.
Local media reported the man was part of a team taking part in an annual classic yacht regatta running from 26 to 29 June.
Tourist deaths
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A postmortem will be carried out to determine the cause of death.
There have been several recent cases where tourists have gone missing or died on Greek islands.
One person has been killed and six more have been injured in India after part of the roof at an airport collapsed in heavy rain.
The incident at the domestic departure terminal of New Delhi‘s Indira Gandhi International Airport happened at around 5am local time on Friday as heavy pre-monsoon rains lashed the capital.
Image: A crew removes water outside the airport on Friday. Pic: AP
All flight departures from Terminal 1 were temporarily suspended as rescuers cleared the debris to save anyone trapped, the airport authority said.
Image: The collapsed roof at the domestic departure terminal. Pic: AP
Image: Pic: AP
Some support beams also collapsed, damaging cars in the pickup and drop-off area of the terminal, local media reported.
Of the six injured, one was rescued from a car on which an iron beam had fallen.
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