After the Hurricane

Rescue missions continue in Florida after one of the strongest storms ever to hit the United States. Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida on September 28 as a Category 4 storm. For days afterward, water levels kept rising, as flooding prevented rivers swollen by massive amounts of rain from emptying into the sea.

Groups including the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Defense have used “the largest amount of search-and-rescue assets that I think we’ve ever put in place before,” Deanne Criswell said on October 2. She heads the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Ian cut a path of destruction across Florida before moving north to the Carolinas on September 30. At press time, at least a hundred people had died in the U.S. and Cuba. Rain continued in the eastern U.S. Criswell said federal disaster aid is on the way.

On October 5, President Joe Biden visited Florida. He was in Puerto Rico two days before. The U.S. territory was hit by Hurricane Fiona on September 18. Ahead of his trip, Biden posted a message for both places, on Twitter: “We see what you’re going through, and we’re with you.”

Stop and Think! How does the photo support the story? Why is it important to see the effects of the hurricane? What other photo would work?