Hurricane Ian death toll rises to at least 94 in Florida
OCTOBER 3, 2022
Nearly 100 people have been reported dead in the U.S. five days after Hurricane Ian slammed into the west coast of Florida as a powerful Category 4 storm. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno announced Monday that 54 deaths have now been confirmed in that county, bringing the total number of Florida fatalities to at least 94.
Four storm-related deaths have previously been reported in North Carolina, bringing the U.S. toll to at least 98.
The CBS News figure is higher than the official state tally because in some cases, county officials are confirming deaths more quickly than state officials.
Members of the search and rescue team from Miami including Pasco, a black Labrador retriever, search the rubble for missing persons at Fort Myers Beach, two days after Hurricane Ian hit Florida's west coast as a Category 4 storm.
Flooded roadways and washed-out bridges to barrier islands left many people isolated amid limited cellphone service and a lack of basic amenities such as water, electricity and the internet. Officials warned that the situation in many areas isn't expected to improve for several days because waterways are overflowing leaving the rain that fell with nowhere to go.
About 600,000 homes and businesses in Florida were still without electricity on Monday morning, down from a peak of 2.6 million.
The current goal is to restore power by Sunday to customers whose power lines and other electric infrastructure is still intact, Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said Monday. It does not include homes or areas where infrastructure needs to be rebuilt.
More than 1,600 people have been rescued statewide, according to Florida's emergency management agency.
The state will build a temporary traffic passageway for the largest one, Pine Island, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday, adding that an allocation had been approved for the Department of Transportation to build it this week.
"It's not going to be a full bridge, you're going to have to go over it probably at 5 miles an hour or something, but it'll at least let people get in and off the island with their vehicles," the governor said at a news conference.
In Virginia, the U.S. Navy postponed the first-ever deployment of the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, the nation's most advanced aircraft carrier, according to a statement from the Navy's 2nd Fleet. The carrier and other U.S. ships were scheduled to leave Norfolk on Monday for training exercises in the Atlantic Ocean with vessels from other NATO Countries.
Coast Guard, municipal and private crews have been using helicopters, boats and even Jet Skis to evacuate people over the past several days.
In rural Seminole County, north of Orlando, residents donned waders, boots and bug spray to paddle to their flooded homes Sunday.
Ben Bertat found 4 inches of water in his house by Lake Harney after kayaking there.
"I think it's going to get worse because all of this water has to get to the lake," said Bertat, pointing to the water flooding a nearby road. "With ground saturation, all this swamp is full and it just can't take any more water. It doesn't look like it's getting any lower."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-ian-de...s-florida/
OCTOBER 3, 2022
Nearly 100 people have been reported dead in the U.S. five days after Hurricane Ian slammed into the west coast of Florida as a powerful Category 4 storm. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno announced Monday that 54 deaths have now been confirmed in that county, bringing the total number of Florida fatalities to at least 94.
Four storm-related deaths have previously been reported in North Carolina, bringing the U.S. toll to at least 98.
The CBS News figure is higher than the official state tally because in some cases, county officials are confirming deaths more quickly than state officials.
Members of the search and rescue team from Miami including Pasco, a black Labrador retriever, search the rubble for missing persons at Fort Myers Beach, two days after Hurricane Ian hit Florida's west coast as a Category 4 storm.
Flooded roadways and washed-out bridges to barrier islands left many people isolated amid limited cellphone service and a lack of basic amenities such as water, electricity and the internet. Officials warned that the situation in many areas isn't expected to improve for several days because waterways are overflowing leaving the rain that fell with nowhere to go.
About 600,000 homes and businesses in Florida were still without electricity on Monday morning, down from a peak of 2.6 million.
The current goal is to restore power by Sunday to customers whose power lines and other electric infrastructure is still intact, Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said Monday. It does not include homes or areas where infrastructure needs to be rebuilt.
More than 1,600 people have been rescued statewide, according to Florida's emergency management agency.
The state will build a temporary traffic passageway for the largest one, Pine Island, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday, adding that an allocation had been approved for the Department of Transportation to build it this week.
"It's not going to be a full bridge, you're going to have to go over it probably at 5 miles an hour or something, but it'll at least let people get in and off the island with their vehicles," the governor said at a news conference.
In Virginia, the U.S. Navy postponed the first-ever deployment of the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, the nation's most advanced aircraft carrier, according to a statement from the Navy's 2nd Fleet. The carrier and other U.S. ships were scheduled to leave Norfolk on Monday for training exercises in the Atlantic Ocean with vessels from other NATO Countries.
Coast Guard, municipal and private crews have been using helicopters, boats and even Jet Skis to evacuate people over the past several days.
In rural Seminole County, north of Orlando, residents donned waders, boots and bug spray to paddle to their flooded homes Sunday.
Ben Bertat found 4 inches of water in his house by Lake Harney after kayaking there.
"I think it's going to get worse because all of this water has to get to the lake," said Bertat, pointing to the water flooding a nearby road. "With ground saturation, all this swamp is full and it just can't take any more water. It doesn't look like it's getting any lower."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-ian-de...s-florida/
