Video Shows Airplanes Flipped Like Toys by "Apocalyptic" Hurricane Ian
The hurricane has made landfall.
Hurricane Ian has made landfall over Florida's west coast, with winds of 155 mph leaving destruction in its wake. Video footage of North Perry Airport in south Florida shows widespread damage even before the hurricane touched down, with planes flipped over and twisted out of shape. Wings and tails on the planes show severe damage, and hangers were also impacted. "This is going to be a nasty, nasty day, two days," says governor Ron DeSantis. "Do what you need to do to stay safe. If you are where that storm is approaching, you're already in hazardous conditions. It's going to get a lot worse very quickly. So please hunker down." Here's what the video footage showed, and what Florida residents can expect to happen next.
Footage from North Perry Airport, Pembroke Pines shows scenes of immense damage. Planes are seen flipped over, with wings and tails bent and broken. "We see one plane flipped over, two, three, four… unfortunate number of aircraft damaged. Luckily we were ok," says the person who took the video. Airplane hangers were also damaged, but thankfully no one was hurt. Keep reading to learn more and see the video.
According to DeSantis, if people haven't already evacuated it is no longer safe to do so. "I think a lot of people who just moved into Florida were really, really stressed," says east Orlando resident Candy Powell. "I'm kind of trying to be like the calming factor. Even going to the store yesterday, I actually just kind of had to almost get just regular groceries. The shelves were empty. There was hardly any canned stuff left."
Power outages have been reported in the Tampa Bay area, with more than 100,000 locals affected so far. "[Ian is a] catastrophic storm that is going to do significant damage," says Eric Silagy, president and CEO of Florida Power & Light (FPL). "Ian is going to be a life-changing event. This is a very powerful, catastrophic storm that is going to do significant damage."
Experts warn that parts of Florida could see up to 16 inches of rain. "In some areas there will be catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge," DeSantis said on Tuesday. In curtain areas, flooding "buffers" could help prevent disaster. "While they're not going to be able to catch all of this stormwater volume, they are going to help by slowly releasing that water downstream rather than letting it all come at once whenever the rain is at its most intense," says Eban Bean, an assistant professor in the University of Florida's Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering.
People in Florida have been preparing for the storm, and are hoping for the best. "We're probably going to have a historic storm surge in our area," says Krissy Chenault, of Port Charlotte. "We boarded up our home. My husband is going to stay in our home, we live very close to a canal that leads right out to the harbor. I might end up going to my mother-in-law's tonight which is just a little bit more inland. It's been significant changes since I spoke to him. Very scary… My husband built our home 14 years ago. At the time when we built it, my husband was a general contractor and was building these hurricane homes where they're solid concrete walls. So I'm not worried about my house, I'm just worried about my family."
MORE VIDEO: Damaged planes on the North & South Side of North Perry Airport north side due to a tornado. #IAN #HurricaneIan
📽️ Video Courtesy TTWN/Steven J Grey pic.twitter.com/sJAnlOqtio— Total Traffic Miami (@TotalTrafficMIA) September 28, 2022
NEW VIDEO: Over 15 planes damaged at North Perry Airport north side (more possibly on the south side) due to a suspected tornado. #IAN #HurricaneIan
📽️ Video Courtesy TTWN/Steven J Grey pic.twitter.com/W4kQPU3R32— Total Traffic Miami (@TotalTrafficMIA) September 28, 2022
