New images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed several beach cottages and a motel building that lined the shores of Florida’s Sanibel Island HAD been wiped away by Ian’s storm surge. Even though most homes were still standing, they appeared to have roof damage, the images showed.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster told reporters on Saturday there were no storm-related deaths in the state and that most electricity had been restored. However, he added: “We know we have much cleaning up and rebuilding to do.” There were at least 35 deaths in Florida’s Lee County alone that were attributable to the hurricane, the county sheriff’s office said in a Facebook Post on Saturday morning. Many of the dead across Florida were elderly people, including a 92-year-old man, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said earlier.Thousands of people were still unaccounted for in Florida, officials said, but many of them were likely in shelters or without power.
President Joe Biden has approved a disaster declaration, making federal resources available to counties affected by the storm. The president said Ian was “likely to rank among the worst … in the nation’s history.” On Saturday, he declared an emergency in North Carolina.The Florida city of Fort Myers, close to where the eye of the storm first came ashore, absorbed a major blow, with numerous houses destroyed.