Lee County Florida

Ian was a tropical storm early Thursday but was expected to intensify again over the Atlantic Ocean and menace the South Carolina coast.

[President Joe Biden](https://www.fox5dc.com/tag/people/joe-biden) officially declared a major disaster in Florida over the devastation and was scheduled to visit the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington, D.C. [Northeast Florida, coastal Georgia, and the Lowcountry of South Carolina](https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/hurricane-ian-tracker-georgia-coast-preparations-path-updates). [Hurricane Ian: How you can help victims and avoid scams](https://www.fox13news.com/weather/hurricane-ian-how-you-can-help-victims-and-scams-to-avoid) Deanne Criswell, the administrator of FEMA, said the agency is supporting search and rescue efforts. "We still cannot access many of the people that are in need." Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson told NBC’s "Today" that he had not been told of any deaths in the city. It said he appeared to be using a hose to drain his pool into the wide canal and fell down an incline that was "extremely soft and slippery due to the heavy rain." How many heeded mandatory evacuation orders before the storm surge washed over the island was impossible to know. Chances are your loved ones do not have ability to contact you," said the sheriff's office in Collier County, which includes Naples. "Portable towers are on the way for cell service. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told "Good Morning America" live on Thursday morning that he believed the death toll would be "in the hundreds," but later clarified that he couldn't immediately confirm the true number. Ron DeSantis later emphasized that the toll was not confirmed and was likely an estimate based on 911 calls.

Biden declared a major disaster in Florida as Tropical Storm Ian swept across the state, leaving a path of destruction in its wake.

“The President and Governor committed to continued close coordination,” White House officials said in a readout of the call. However, approving this declaration request will allow Floridians to be better prepared for the recovery phase,” the lawmakers said in a letter, led by Florida Sens. “I’ve been through three hurricanes here and only once did I have to go to a shelter,” she said in an interview. The entire Florida congressional delegation [also wrote to Biden](https://castor.house.gov/uploadedfiles/92b383c40cc1b09bdf41c4a739b8c246.09.28.22-fl-delegation-letter-to-president-biden-re-mdd-ian.pdf) in support of DeSantis’ request. “This historic hurricane will continue to impact the state for some time, and the full extent of damage will not be known for days. “You’re looking at a storm that’s changed the character of a significant part of our state,” DeSantis said. In the case of one hospital system in the badly-hit Lee County, Ian shut down the public water supply and caused rampant power outages. Biden also declared a major disaster in Florida, which brings with it federal aid to supplement state, local and tribal recovery efforts in areas affected by the storm. The statewide medical community descended on the area as rescuers moved patients to facilities outside the area that were willing to help. The governor said more clarity on deaths is expected in the “next day or so.” Chunks of bridges crumbled into the water, massive trees fell as a result of the weather carnage, contributing to the power outages across the state. Ron DeSantis earlier in the day said that there were at least two deaths “likely” caused by the storm.

This morning, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke with Commissioner of Lee County, Florida Cecil Pendergrass. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell joined them on ...

The Commissioner thanked the President for the support that has been provided thus far. The President reassured the Commissioner that the Administration would provide all the resources at its disposal. spoke with Commissioner of Lee County, Florida Cecil Pendergrass.

After bringing more flooding and wind damage to Florida, Hurricane Ian is now causing damage in South Carolina where it's headed for another landfall.

[a little unnerving to be honest](https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/hurricane-ian-florida-updates-09-29-22/h_2cd44964734965582768e0466b93429c),” DiMaria told CNN. The Orlando metro area saw nearly a foot of rain from 4 a.m. Wednesday until 4 a.m. [Tampa](https://twitter.com/FlyTPA/status/1575510769210359809) will resume operations at 10 a.m. Nearly [2,000 flights](https://flightaware.com/live/cancelled/) have been canceled today, according to flight tracker flightaware.com. Collectively, there are more than 500 calls for service related to law and fire services that we need to tackle," the office said in a The 72-year-old man went outside his home in Deltona, about 25 miles north of Orlando, about 1 a.m. [American Red Cross](https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/2022/ian-heads-toward-florida-as-a-major-storm-get-ready-now.html). Always follow the safety rules recommended by the manufacturer and the [CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/cofacts.html). "We still cannot access many of the people that are in need," Marceno said. You can also apply through the [FEMA mobile app](https://www.fema.gov/about/news-multimedia/mobile-products) or by calling 1-800-621-3362. The highest outages by number are in Lee County with about 414,000, according to

There is no official estimate of the number of people killed by Hurricane Ian in Lee County or across Florida.

“We have a few reports of some fatalities,” she said. “There are thousands of people that are waiting to be rescued and, again, cannot give a true assessment until we’re actually on the scene, assessing each scene, and we can’t access people, that’s the problem.” As people across Florida struggled on Thursday morning to understand the scale of the damage from Hurricane Ian, the sheriff of Lee County, Carmine Marceno, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that hundreds of people might have died in his county — an estimate that was quickly shared on social media and in some news reports.

At a briefing by county officials at the Lee County Emergency Operations Center, County Manager Roger DesJarlais said the county and partner agencies search ...

We will publicize to the best of our ability so that everyone will know where they can pick up water and those supplies," he said. And when you think about the failures that have taken place on the Sanibel Causeway and the bridges on the way to Pine Island, you know I would never have thought that those bridges would fail the way they have so exercise an awful lot of caution." Don't just assume you got the right away," he said. "And so if you need sheltering and you can't make your way out of town to more comfortable accommodations then you can come to the shelters." "Please stop and take an extra minute to be certain when you cross an intersection. "So over the next week or so, we will be will be rebuilding and fixing all of those traffic signals." "We hope to have all the bridges inspected ... and they're just gone," he said. And I would hope that we would have those resolved over the next day or so. "Likewise, there are five failures, structural failures, on Sanibel causeway, there are five sections of roadway that have just fallen away. "We know that the utility system's county-wide potable water and water treatment systems have failed," he said. "I can tell you that, you know, in all these years, I've not seen damage to Lee County from a storm like this," DesJarlais said.