Live Updates: Long-term care residents displaced by Ian

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Thousands of residents of long-term care facilities in Florida remained displaced by Hurricane Ian.

Kristen Knapp of the Florida Health Care Association says about 47 nursing homes and 115 assisted living facilities have been evacuated as of Friday, with around 8,000 residents among them.

While structural damage and flooding were reported at facilities across the storm’s path, Knapp said there have been no reports yet of serious injuries or deaths among those homes’ residents.

Steve Bahmer of Leading Age Florida, which represents non-profit long-term care facilities, offered a similar assessment, with reports of minor damage, broken windows, downed trees and flooding. He said one facility was hit by a tornado but residents have been able to remain there.

At least seven people were confirmed dead in Florida — a number that’s likely to increase as officials confirm more deaths and continue searching for people.

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CHARLESTON, S.C. — The main airport in Charleston, South Carolina, has closed ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Ian.

Officials with the Charleston International Airport said Friday they had shuttered the airport, where airlines had already canceled dozens of fights, and winds reached 40 mph.

The airport will remained closed until 6 a.m. Saturday.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster planned a briefing at 12:30 p.m. Friday. Under a federal disaster declaration approved by President Joe Biden, federal emergency aid has been made available to supplement South Carolina’s state, tribal and local response efforts pertaining to the storm, which was expected to make landfall in the state later Friday.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Strong winds were blowing early Friday morning in Charleston, South Carolina, with powerful gusts bending tree branches and sending sprays of the steadily falling rain sideways as Hurricane Ian approached.

Streets were largely empty, an ordinarily packed morning commute silenced by the advancing storm. Flash flood warnings were posted, with up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain forecast for the Charleston area, and high tide expected just before noon, a circumstance that often floods the downtown peninsula on its own with even moderate rainfall.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The Florida Highway Patrol says a 37-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman died Thursday afternoon when their car hydroplaned and overturned in a water-filled ditch in north Florida amid Hurricane Ian’s impact on the state.

An incident report says the driver apparently lost control of the vehicle, which went onto the grassy shoulder before submerging in a water-filled ditch along Cracker Swamp Road in Putnam County, which is southwest of St. Augustine. The area was inundated with rain as Hurricane Ian passed through the state Thursday.

At least six people were confirmed dead in Florida.