Aviva Fried (US correspondent) / Photo credit: SEAN RAYFORD / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP
Hurricane Idalia continues to wreak havoc in the United States. This Thursday, he is heading to North Carolina. Many people fear the rising waters, aggravated by the exceptional tides linked to the “super Moon”. In Florida, where Idalia passed on Wednesday, miraculously, there are almost no victims. But the damage is considerable.
Streets transformed into rivers, houses swept away by the water which has risen to almost three meters in places… The images taken after the passage of Hurricane Idalia are impressive. A video taken by a resident shows a service station which flies away under the effect of the gusts which blew at 200 km / h. “It was like the end of time. When the wind intensified in the middle of the night, and when the water came our way from all sides, it was like a Leviathan coming out of the waves to try to devour us” , explains on CNN Michael Bobbitt, a resident of the island of Cedar Key, where the hurricane arrived with full force.
A fear of riots
As soon as Hurricane Idalia passed, the teams of the electric companies tried to reconnect some 250,000 homes without electricity. Most of the inhabitants have evacuated, but want to return as soon as possible, because they fear looting. But Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, wanted to reassure the inhabitants. “I want to remind looters: people have the right to defend their property. You loot, we shoot,” he said.
In Florida alone, the damage should amount to tens of billions of dollars. In an area where almost no company agrees to insure the inhabitants, as these catastrophic phenomena are multiplying.