US is being hit by one of the most powerful hurricanes in its history
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The US is currently in the midst of one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever hit the country.
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The category four storm is the fifth strongest in its history and has been battering the south coats of the country, with Florida pummelled by 150mph winds over the past 24 hours.
Footage shared on social media shows homes in Florida being ripped from their foundations and streets completely under water, while 1.8 million people have been without power.
Residents were ordered to evacuate the south-west region of the state ahead of the storm hitting.
Ian Hawver, a handyman from Fort Myers, had planned on waiting the storm out.
However, due to the sheer power of the hurricane, he had to abandon his plan and instead headed across the state to Fort Lauderdale.
He said: "We were going to stay and then just decided when we got up, and they said 155 mph winds.
"We don’t have a generator. I just don’t see the advantage of sitting there in the dark, in a hot house, watching water come in your house."
News anchors at Fort Myers television station, WINK, had to abandon their usual desk and continue with their storm coverage from another location in their newsroom because water was gushing into their building near the Caloosahatchee River.
Jackson Boone fled from his home close to the Gulf coast, hiding in his law office in Venice with colleagues and their pets.
Recalling the damage he witnessed, he said: "We’re seeing tree damage, horizontal rain, very high wind. We have a 50-plus-year-old oak tree that has toppled over."
While it is expected to develop into a tropical storm eventually, Ian continues on its path of destruction.
Prior to hitting the US, it cut right through Cuba, killing two people and bringing down the country's grid.
We were in the eye wall of Cat. 4 #Hurricane #Ian for over 5 hours and the back side was the worst.
— Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) September 29, 2022
I haven't experienced anything close to this in over 30 years @weatherchannel pic.twitter.com/wfEqcuEBAm
Speaking about the devastation being caused by the storm, Governor Ron DeSantis said that many lives have been affected and thanked other states for their support.
He said at a press conference: "I want to thank the 26 states that have sent us support, including Tennessee, Virginia, Montana, New York, Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey and Georgia.
"I just spoke to Kat Ivey from Alabama and she's supporting sending some black hawk helicopters down to help.
"Governor Bill Lee in Tennessee fast-tracked a request that we had, we appreciate that.
"I was also able to speak to John Bel Edwards from Louisiana. They've helped up. We've said, 'Hey, we've got a lot of experience in hurricanes recently, so these guys are good, ask us we wanna send more'. And so we really appreciate that consideration."
