The official death toll from Hurricane Ian has risen to 58 and is likely to increase significantly in the days ahead as massive search and rescue efforts continue.
People stand on the destroyed bridge to Pine Island as they view the damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Matlacha, Fla. | Gerald Herbert/AP PhotoTALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Officials across Florida were assessing the full extent of the destruction from Hurricane Ian, with fatalities climbing and massive search and rescue efforts continuing days after the historic storm caused catastrophic damage.
Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters during a late afternoon briefing on Sunday that mobilization of search and rescue teams was the largest since the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. more than two decades ago. DeSantis, who spoke in Arcadia, a small town located in an interior Southwest Florida county, acknowledged there were places that would require a complete rebuild of electric utility infrastructure.
More than 621,000 home and businesses remained without power Monday morning — most of them located in the hard-hit counties of southwest Florida, where a wall of water left some communities in complete devastation.