Hurricane Ian updates: Florida death toll climbs

Lee County, which encompasses Fort Myers, accounts for most of the fatalities.

ByJulia Jacobo, Teddy Grant, Kevin Shalvey, Emily Shapiro, Melissa Gaffney, Meredith Deliso, Jon Haworth, Nadine El-Bawab, and Stephanie Guerilus
Last Updated: September 30, 2022, 6:22 PM EDT

The remnants of Ian are charging up the East Coast on Saturday after making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in South Carolina on Friday afternoon.

The monster storm made its first U.S. landfall on Wednesday on Florida's west coast as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, shredding homes with ferocious winds topping 150 mph. Florida's death toll has climbed to at least 81, according to information from local officials.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Sep 30, 2022, 6:22 PM EDT

Ian death toll in Florida at least 33: Analysis

There have been at least 33 storm-related deaths due to Ian in Florida, ABC News has determined based on information from the Florida Medical Examiners Commission and inquiries with local officials and authorities.

That includes 16 deaths in Lee County, six in Charlotte County, four in Volusia County, three in Collier County, two in Sarasota County, and one each in Lake and Manatee counties.

Earlier Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there were 21 deaths from Ian, of which 20 were unconfirmed because they were spotted during search and rescue operations and crews were told to prioritize those found alive and still trapped.

A partially submerged car and home are shown after Hurricane Ian caused widespread damage and flooding in Kissimmee, Fla., Sept. 29, 2022.
Joe Skipper/Reuters

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Friday evening that there are 10 confirmed deaths attributed to Ian across in Lake, Sarasota, Manatee, Volusia and Collier counties. The causes of death were primarily drownings, as well as two vehicle accidents and a roof accident. The tally, confirmed by the Medical Examiners Commission, does not include any fatalities from hard-hit Lee or Charlotte counties.

It is unclear whether the state's figures overlap with ABC News' analysis.

-ABC News' Ahmad Hemingway, Alex Faul and Benjamin Stein

Sep 30, 2022, 5:33 PM EDT

Nearly 350,000 customers without power in Carolinas

As Ian moves north, more than 161,000 customers in North Carolina and more than 187,000 customers in South Carolina are without power.

A firefighter examines a large tree across a road as the effects from Hurricane Ian are felt, Sept. 30, 2022, in Charleston, S.C.
Alex Brandon/AP

More than 1.68 million people are still without power in Florida.

Sep 30, 2022, 5:00 PM EDT

Ian downgraded to post-tropical cyclone

Ian has become a post-tropical cyclone, but winds remain at 70 mph and the "dangerous storm surge, flash flooding and high wind threat continues," the National Hurricane Center said in its latest bulletin.

Hurricane warning and watch areas have now been discontinued, though a tropical storm warning has been issued from Edisto Beach, South Carolina, to Cape Fear, North Carolina.

A pedestrian navigates a driving rain from Hurricane Ian on September 30, 2022 in Charleston, South Carolina.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Sep 30, 2022, 4:53 PM EDT

Pregnant Florida woman drives through Hurricane Ian to give birth

Floridian Hanna-Kay Williams started to experience contractions late Tuesday evening, just as the Orlando area was experiencing signs of the hurricane to come.

So she braved the strong winds and potentially dangerous flooding to get to a hospital after she went into labor during Hurricane Ian.

Hanna-Kay Williams and her fiancé kiss their newborn daughter, Wajiha, who was born during Hurricane Ian, Sept. 28, 2022, in Melbourne, Fla.
Courtesy of Health First’s Holmes Regional Medical Center

"I was going in and out because the car was swaying in the wind and the rain was intense, but my fiancé is a great driver so I was in great hands," Williams, 22, of Melbourne, told ABC News.

Read more about the account here.

-ABC News' Mary Kekatos

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