The death toll from Hurricane Ian has reached 21 people, Florida officials said Friday. Some 1.9 million people are still without power — mostly in southwest Florida, which was hit the hardest.
First responders with Orange County Fire Rescue make their way through a flooded neighborhood while checking homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian on Sept. 29 in Orlando, Fla. | Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP PhotoTALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Top Florida officials said Friday that the death toll wrought by Hurricane Ian has reached 21 people as search and rescue teams continue to comb through scores of wreckage hunting for survivors.
“When you look at some of these things, like you see a house totally washed out and it’s nothing but a concrete slab on Ft. Meyers beach, you just pray to God no one was in that,” FloridaAs of Friday morning, there were 12 deaths in Charlotte County believed to be tied with the hurricane; eight in Collier County and one in Polk County, according to state officials.
Hurricane Ian, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, unleashed winds of 150 mph when it crashed ashore Wednesday — causing what DeSantis described as a “500-year flood event.” At least 15,000 people were sheltering in place during the storm. Before it made landfall, more than 2.5 million people were under evacuation orders.
“FEMA is here to support these ongoing efforts right now to continue the lifesaving missions that are still ongoing, but to also to begin to support the recovery mission,” Criswell said during the Friday morning briefing. As of 6 a.m. Friday, there were some 1.9 million customers without power in Florida, DeSantis said — down from the 2.5 million reported on Thursday evening.