The death toll from Hurricane Ian’s brutal attack in Florida rose to at least 21 as of Friday, with more expected Destroyed “Ground Zero”“- As rescue efforts continue and officials are working to retrieve bodies already seen in a submerged house, officials said.
“Right now, the number we’re going with is that we have 21” deaths, the devastated state’s director of emergency management, Kevin Guthrie, told a briefing early Friday.
However, he noted a heart-wrenching “detected condition” observed during a “hasty search” of homes in an area that is still too dangerous for rescuers to fully access.
“The water was on the roof,” he said without revealing the location.
“We had a Coast Guard rescue swimmer swimming in and he could identify what appeared to be human remains — we don’t know exactly how many,” he said.
“And we have had some other situations where we had that particular kind of nightmare scenario”, he said.
Officials said the exact number would not be known until rescue teams could reach the still-flooded and vulnerable areas.
The situation has also made it dangerous for rescue workers to try to reach parts of the devastated state.
Ian destroyed several homes, some of which were hit by boats that were thrown ashore in near-category 5 winds.
Authorities fear the death toll may rise as they eventually gain access to some of the most damaged areas, including “Ground Zero” at Fort Mayor.
Only one of the listed deaths – in Polk County – was officially confirmed. He said there were 12 suspects in Charlotte County and eight in Collier County, but this was not confirmed.
The 72-year-old man was not included in the tally. officials said earlier Was drowned while trying to drain his pool in Volusia County.
It did not include anyone in Lee County, the area covering Fort Meyers, which Governor Ron DeSantis described as “ground zero” of the devastation.
The area – which officials previously said had been “destroyed” by the storm – was only accessible for preliminary rescue operations, Guthrie said, suggesting more dead would be found.
On Thursday, Lee County officials said at least two people were killed Ian. After on Sanibel Island ruined a road Connecting it to the mainland of Florida. Those deaths were not included in Guthrie’s tally.
Amid the confusion, President Biden warned on Thursday that Ian “could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida history.”
“We are hearing preliminary reports on the extent of loss of life and property,” he said.
Ian had previously killed at least three people on Cuba, where he made landfall for the first time on Tuesday.
DeSantis said that as of Friday, “only half of the 20,000 Floridians who had filled out the shelter-in-place survey” had given the update so far. Thankfully, “all 10,000 of them said they were safe,” he said.
However, he insisted there was little response due to massive power cuts – 1.9 million were still affected on Friday across the state – and substandard cellphone service amid widespread destruction.
Rescuers have gone door-to-door to more than 3,000 homes in the hardest-hit areas, calling it “an uphill effort”.
Already, at least 34,000 Floridians have applied for aid from FEMA, which DeSantis previously called a “500-year flood event.”
“You have people who don’t have homes anymore, and so there’s going to be a variety of things in the coming days, weeks and months that need them,” he insisted.
Ian had hit the Sunshine State with winds of 150 mph, just shy of the highest Category 5 ranking for storms of 157 mph or more.
While it moved to the Gulf Coast, its shores were already wet parts of south carolinaWhich was ready for a direct hit expected later on Friday.
“Hurricane Ian is moving toward the South Carolina coast … a life-threatening storm and damaging winds coming soon,” the National Hurricane Center said at 11 p.m. update on a now-category 1 hurricane with 85 mph maximum winds I warned.
Large parts of the state as well as neighboring North Carolina were served with hurricane warnings as well as notices about the deadly storm, both of which had already been placed in a state of emergency.