The death toll from Hurricane Ian topped 80 on Sunday as residents of Florida and the Carolinas faced a recovery effort expected to cost tens of billions of dollars and some officials faced criticism for their response to the storm. The trend reports with reference to Reuters.
The death toll is expected to continue to rise as floodwaters recede and search teams push further into areas initially cut off from the outside world. Hundreds of people were rescued as emergency workers searched homes and buildings that were flooded or completely washed away.
At least 85 storm-related deaths have been confirmed after Ian made a catastrophic landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum winds of 150 mph (240 km/h).
All but four deaths were reported in Florida, of which 42 were counted by the sheriff’s office in coastal Lee County, which took the brunt of the storm as it made landfall, and 39 other deaths reported by officials in four neighboring counties.
Officials in Lee County, which includes Fort Myers and Cape Coral and sits on the Gulf Coast, faced questions about whether they had ordered evacuations in time.
