Live Updates: Hurricane Ian lashes Carolinas after slamming Florida

With all of South Carolina's coast under a hurricane warning, a steady stream of vehicles left Charleston on Thursday, many likely heeding officials' warnings to seek higher ground. Storefronts were sandbagged to ward off high water levels in an area prone to inundation.

On Friday morning in Charleston, powerful wind gusts bent tree branches and sent sprays of steadily falling rain sideways. Streets in the 350-year-old city were largely empty, an ordinarily packed morning commute silenced by the advancing storm.

With winds holding at 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center's update at 5 a.m. Friday placed Ian about 145 miles southeast of Charleston and forecast a "life-threatening storm surge" and hurricane conditions along the Carolina coastal area later Friday.

National Guard troops were being positioned in South Carolina to help with the aftermath, including any water rescues. And in Washington, President Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state, a needed step to speed federal assist for recovery once Ian passes.

As if they didn't have enough problems due to Hurricane Ian, many Floridians were finding empty tanks at gas stations, according to a tweet from GasBuddy's Patrick DeHaan Thursday evening:

He wrote, "Big spike in gas outages in Florida from last update. 13.4% of stations without gas, including 30.8% in Tampa, 26.1% in Ft Myers/Naples."

An 11-year-old boy who'd evacuated with his family from Jacksonville due to Hurricane Ian was killed when he fell from a 19th-story condominium balcony in Panama City Beach, Florida, town officials said.

It happened at the Sterling Reef Thursday afternoon.

He was already dead when rescue crews arrived, officials said, adding that foul play wasn't suspected.

The Fort Myers area was particularly hard-hit by Ian. The hurricane ripped homes from their slabs and deposited them among shredded wreckage. Businesses near the beach were completely razed, leaving twisted debris. Broken docks floated at odd angles beside damaged boats. Fires smoldered on lots where houses once stood.

"I don't know how anyone could have survived in there," William Goodison said amid the wreckage of a mobile home park in Fort Myers Beach where he'd lived for 11 years. Goodison said he was alive only because he rode out the storm at his son's house inland.

The hurricane tore through the park of about 60 homes, leaving many destroyed or mangled beyond repair, including Goodison's single-wide home. Wading through waist-deep water, Goodison and his son wheeled two trash cans containing what little he could salvage — a portable air conditioner, some tools and a baseball bat.

The road into Fort Myers was littered with broken trees, boat trailers and other debris. Cars were left abandoned in the road, having stalled when the storm surge flooded their engines.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said his office was scrambling to respond to thousands of 911 calls in the Fort Myers area, but many roads and bridges were impassable.

Emergency crews sawed through toppled trees to reach stranded people. Many in the hardest-hit areas were unable to call for help because of electrical and cellular outages.

A chunk of the nearby Sanibel Causeway fell into the sea, cutting off access to the barrier island where 6,300 people live.

s Hurricane Ian headed for a forecast landfall over South Carolina, President Biden issued an emergency declaration for the state late Thursday night.

It lets FEMA work with state, tribal, and local agencies to help locals cope with the anticipated damage.

"Specifically," the White House said, "FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency."

Christine Bomlitz became more and more distraught as Hurricane Ian gained in ferocity Wednesday, sweeping across southwest Florida. Hours passed, but there was still no word from her 84-year-old mother.

Thursday morning came. The storm had drifted away overnight. But still no word.

Stuck on the other side of the country in Las Vegas, Bomlitz posted pleas for help on social media - anywhere she could. Can someone check on her mother?

Bomlitz had no way to contact her mom, Shirley Affolter, who lost her cell phone before the storm. Then her landline went down. With nowhere to go, she hunkered down for the night. Before the storm, an evacuation vehicle had missed her on its route.

By Thursday afternoon, a Good Samaritan came to the rescue.

Cheynne Prevatt, 26, had sustained damage to her own home during the storm. But the Florida resident waded into chest-high floodwaters to search for Affolter.

Flooding in Englewood, Florida, had cut the mother off from her neighbors and the rest of her community. She couldn't escape on her own because she needs a walker to get around.

When Prevatt walked through the door, there was relief. The woman was alive and safe. Prevatt said: "I didn't know who she was, but she was really kind of surprised to see me."

Mother and daughter were able to speak briefly on the phone, enough to ease Bomlitz's worries.