Hurricane Ian pounded Florida as a Category 4 storm last week, causing catastrophic damage totally about $60 billion, and mostly slamming the southwest part of the state, particularly the cities of Fort Myers Beach and Naples.
The overall death toll still is undetermined and is expected to rise as rescue and search efforts continue.
According to some reports, the overall death toll has reached 77. The Associated Press reported Saturday that the death toll was at 54.
Authorities said on Saturday that the death toll has risen to 47 in Florida. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper confirmed four dead in the state. There are an unconfirmed number of deaths in Cuba.
Many of the deaths were caused by drowning. Bodies were reportedly found inside of flooded cars or floating in the water, Florida’s Medical Examiners Commission confirmed Saturday.
Out of the total deaths in Florida, 35 were reported in Lee County, where Fort Myers Beach is located. There have also so far been one death in Lake, three deaths in Sarasota, one in Manatee, five in Volusia, three in Collier, and one in Hendry.
The New York Times reported that emergency managers in Lee County delayed in telling residents to flee the region.
Kevin Guthrie, Florida director of emergency management, was asked if Lee County received enough time for an evacuation warning. Guthrie said that “as soon as they were made aware of the storm surge” in Lee County that evacuation orders were immediately issued.
As of Sunday, the amount of people without power as a result from damage from Ian is at 801,348 people in Florida, 149,243 people in Puerto Rico, 15,528 people in North Carolina and 6,789 people in Virginia, according to an update from poweroutage.us.
About one-third of southwest Florida’s population is over the age of 65.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he was confident there was enough fuel going to the state to restore power.
The White House announced on Saturday that President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will be visiting Puerto Rico on Monday and Florida on Wednesday to visit damage sites.
