As the flood waters recede and search teams proceed into remote places, it is anticipated that the death toll will increase.
As emergency workers examined homes and buildings that had been entirely inundated or carried away, hundreds of people were saved.
Since Ian made landfall on the Florida coast on Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum winds of 240 kph, at least 85 hurricane-related fatalities have been documented.
Coastal Lee County’s mayor’s office reported 42 fatalities in the county that took the brunt of the storm’s impact when it made landfall, while officials in four nearby counties reported another 39 deaths. All but four of the fatalities happened in Florida.
Officials from Lee County were questioned regarding whether or not they had given the orders for the evacuations in a timely manner.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will view the destruction in Florida firsthand on Wednesday, according to a statement released by the White House on Saturday.
On Monday, Biden and his wife are due to travel to Puerto Rico, where two weeks after Hurricane Fiona devastated the island, hundreds of thousands of residents still lack access to electricity.
62 people have died as a result of Hurricane Ian in Florida and North Carolina.
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