Hurricane Ian death toll rises above 80

• Government officials come under fire for their handling of the storm.
• More than 80 people have been killed in Hurricane Ian.
• Category 4 Hurricane Ian made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday.

As certain government officials come under fire for their handling of the storm, the number of people killed as a result of Hurricane Ian in the Southeast United States has surpassed 80.

Since Category 4 Hurricane Ian made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of 249 km per hour, at least 85 storm-related fatalities have been verified (155 miles per hour).

All but four of the fatalities occurred in Florida.

With 39 deaths recorded by officials in neighboring counties, the sheriff’s office in coastal Lee County, which includes devastated Fort Myers, announced that it had counted 42 fatalities.

Questions have been raised about whether Lee County officials ordered evacuations in a timely manner.

The county’s board of commissioners chairman, Cecil Pendergrass, stated on Sunday that evacuation orders were issued as soon as the hurricane’s course became obvious. According to Pendergrass, some folks nevertheless made the decision to weather the storm.

At a press conference, he stated, “I respect their choices. But I’m certain that many of them now regret it.

The administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Deanne Criswell stated that the federal government intended to unleash a massive quantity of relief, prioritizing Florida. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are scheduled to visit the state.

The Coast Guard and Department of Defense, among other federal agencies, have deployed “the highest amount of search and rescue assets that I think we’ve ever put in place,” according to Criswell, who spoke to Fox News Sunday.

She did, however, warn that risks still exist.

Swept away

Officials stated that some of the worst damage was caused by wind-driven ocean surf that crashed into beachside villages and wiped away buildings as the extent of the destruction became more apparent.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s satellite photographs revealed that storm surges had completely wrecked the beach cottages and a motel that dotted the coasts of Florida’s Sanibel Island. Even while the majority of houses appeared to still be intact, all of them had obvious roof damage.

Ground surveys revealed that the barrier island, a well-liked tourist destination that was home to some 6,000 people, was completely destroyed.

Dana Souza, the municipal manager of Sanibel, stated, “It’s all just absolutely gone.” “Our public water supply is being evaluated, our sewer system has been severely damaged, and our electric system is pretty much wrecked.”

After the single bridge connecting Sanibel to the mainland broke, the National Guard and the Coast Guard were sending helicopters to the islands to rescue residents.

In Florida alone, where more than 2 million people lost energy the first night of the storm, more than 700,000 businesses and households were still without electricity as of Sunday afternoon.

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