The death toll in Florida has risen above 70 since Hurricane Ian hit the state last week.
Officials in Lee County announced at least 35 deaths as of Saturday, and putting together tallies across other areas puts the total number at 71, per the Miami Herald. Four people died in North Carolina and three were reported dead in Cuba.
More than 1,600 people have been rescued as of Friday, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno reported having rescued between 600 and 700 people on Saturday.
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“Ian will go down as one of the most damaging and impactful storms in U.S. history, along with 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, which caused $190 billion in total damage and economic loss,” said AccuWeather founder and CEO Joel Myers, who predicted the damages for Ian could reach $210 billion in the United States.
Marceno has previously predicted that deaths could be in the hundreds. He, along with other county officials, shared early reports with President Joe Biden. “This could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida’s history,” Biden told reporters Thursday afternoon. “The numbers are still unclear, but we’re hearing early reports of what may be a substantial loss of life.”
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Ian made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday as a powerful Category 4 hurricane. After sweeping across the state to the Atlantic Ocean, it again made landfall as a weaker Category 1 hurricane in South Carolina.
“This is not just a crisis in Florida. Or in South Carolina. Or in Puerto Rico. It’s a United States crisis,” Biden tweeted on Sunday. “We’ll do everything we can to get these communities back on their feet.”
