At least 54 people died in Lee County alone, Sheriff Carmine Marceno said – up from the county´s previously announced death toll of 42 – bringing Florida´s overall death toll to at least 99, according to CBS News.
Amid the devastation, the death toll is rising. CBS News has confirmed at least 105 people died due to the storm — 101 in Florida and another 4 in North Carolina.
Days after Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida, the storm’s effects are still ravaging parts of the state. Bridges to barrier islands are washed out, roadways are flooded and some areas are seeing a lack of power or water.
In view of such a situation, Florida authorities warned that the situation in many areas is not expected to for several days because waterways are overflowing, leaving the rain that fell with nowhere to go.
About 500,000 homes and businesses in Florida were still without electricity Tuesday, according to PowerOutage.us, and service is expected to be restored by next Sunday for customers whose lines and other associated facilities were not damaged.
According to State Emergency Management Division Director Kevin Guthrie, this does not include homes or areas where infrastructure needs to be rebuilt.
It will not be possible in some places to restore power for at least a month due to ravages caused by Ian, said Roger Desjarlais, Lee County administrator.
Meanwhile, Florida Power & Light Company Chairman and CEO Eric Silagy said he understands the frustrations and emphasized that the utility’s crews are working to get power restored as soon as possible. The utility provider — the largest in the state — expects to have power restored to 95% of the service areas affected by Hurricane Ian by the end of the day Friday, he said.
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