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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.

Early reports of ‘substantial loss of life’ – Hurricane Ian updates

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Biden: Storm could be ‘deadliest in Florida’s history’

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.”

According to NBC News, at least 12 deaths have been linked to Hurricane Ian in Florida so far.

More on Florida

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.

Eyewitness: No one expected this storm to be so vicious

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Town devastated by storm surge

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.

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Island cut off after Hurricane Ian destroys causeway

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.

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.

President Biden has declared a major disaster, releasing federal funds to pay for measures such as temporary housing for those displaced.

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Widespread destruction in Florida

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.

Read more from Sky News:
Dramatic before and after images show scale of destruction
Residents describe escaping the eye of the storm

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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.

“We’ll see more storms like Ian.”

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Anti-Trump protests sweep America for the second time in weeks

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Anti-Trump protests sweep America for the second time in weeks

Anti-Trump protests took place across America on Saturday, with demonstrators decrying the administration’s immigration crackdown and mass firings at government agencies. 

Events ranged from small local marches to a rally in front of the White House and a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration of the start of the Revolutionary War 250 years ago.

Thomas Bassford, 80, was at the battle reenactment with his two grandsons, as well as his partner and daughter.

He said: “This is a very perilous time in America for liberty. I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.”

At events across the country, people carried banners with slogans including “Trump fascist regime must go now!”, “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state,” and “Fight fiercely, Harvard, fight,” referencing the university’s recent refusal to hand over much of its control to the government.

Some signs name-checked Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian citizen living in Maryland, who the Justice Department admits was mistakenly deported to his home country.

Read more: Donald Trump’s deportations explained

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

People waved US flags, some of them held upside down to signal distress. In San Francisco, hundreds of people spelt out “Impeach & Remove” on a beach, also with an inverted US flag.

People walked through downtown Anchorage in Alaska with handmade signs listing reasons why they were demonstrating, including one that read: “No sign is BIG enough to list ALL of the reasons I’m here!”

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP


Protests also took place outside Tesla car dealerships against the role Elon Musk ahas played in downsizing the federal government as de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide demonstrations.

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Organisers are opposing what they call Mr Trump’s civil rights violations and constitutional violations, including efforts to deport scores of immigrants and to scale back the federal government by firing thousands of government workers and effectively shuttering entire agencies.

The Trump administration, among other things, has moved to shutter Social Security Administration field offices, cut funding for government health programs and scale back protections for transgender people.

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Day 91: Q&A – deportations, dollar bills and MAGA hats

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Day 91: Q&A - deportations, dollar bills and MAGA hats

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On Day 91, our US correspondents James Matthews and David Blevins tackle listeners’ questions.

Is Trump’s El Salvador deportation plan good business? Could President Trump put his face on a dollar bill? And are MAGA hats made in China?

If you’ve got a question you’d like the TRUMP100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

Don’t forget, you can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

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JD Vance has ‘quick and private’ meeting with the Pope during visit to Rome

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JD Vance has 'quick and private' meeting with the Pope during visit to Rome

US vice president JD Vance has met with Pope Francis.

The “quick and private” meeting took place at the Pope’s residence, Casa Santa Marta, in Vatican City, sources told Sky News.

The meeting came amid tensions between the Vatican and the Trump administration over the US president’s crackdown on migrants and cuts to international aid.

No further details have been released on the meeting between the vice president and the Pope, who has been recovering following weeks in hospital with double pneumonia.

Mr Vance, who is in Rome with his family, also met with the Vatican’s number two, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.

The Vatican said there had been “an exchange of opinions” over international conflicts, migrants and prisoners.

According to a statement, the two sides had “cordial talks” and the Vatican expressed satisfaction with the Trump administration’s commitment to protecting freedom of religion and conscience.

“There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees and prisoners,” the statement said.

Francis has previously called the Trump administration’s deportation plans a “disgrace”.

Read more from Sky News:
US VP meets Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Trump: Putin not playing me – but I might give up on peace talks

Mr Vance, who became Catholic in 2019, has cited medieval-era Catholic teaching to justify the immigration crackdown.

The pope rebutted the theological concept Mr Vance used to defend the crackdown in an unusual open letter to the US
Catholic bishops about the Trump administration in February, and called Mr Trump’s plan a “major crisis” for the US.

“What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and
will end badly,” the Pope said in the letter.

Mr Vance has acknowledged Francis’s criticism but said he would continue to defend his views. During an appearance in late February at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, he did not address the issue specifically but called himself a “baby Catholic” and acknowledged there were “things about the faith that I don’t know”.

While he had criticised Francis on social media in the past, recently he has posted prayers for the pontiff’s recovery.

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