Hurricane Ian updates: Florida death toll climbs

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

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, 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

Sep 30, 2022, 2:19 PM EDT

Ian makes landfall in South Carolina as Category 1 storm

Hurricane Ian made landfall in South Carolina Friday afternoon as a powerful Category 1 storm, bringing damaging winds and life-threatening storm surge.

Ian made landfall near Georgetown. The storm is expected to move further inland across eastern South Carolina and central North Carolina through the night and into Saturday.

Hurricane Ian over the South Carolina coast, Sept. 30, 2022.
NOAA via AP

After making landfall, it is expected to weaken and rapidly transition into a post-tropical cyclone overnight. It is forecast to bring heavy rain to North Carolina and Virginia and up through the Northeast on Saturday.

Rainfall rates have been up to 2 inches per hour with heavy rain bands in the Charleston area. Wind gusts up to 92 mph have been recorded.

Sep 30, 2022, 2:05 PM EDT

Biden calls Florida damage 'among worst in nation's history'

President Joe Biden spoke from the White House Friday afternoon about Hurricane Ian's wrath, describing the devastation in Florida as well as warning residents of South Carolina to be prepared for another landfall.

"We're just beginning to see the scale of that destruction," Biden said of the damage in Florida. "It is likely to rank among the worst in the nation's history. You have all seen on television, homes and property wiped out. It is going to take months, years to rebuild."

The president gave remarks about the federal response to Hurricane Ian.
The president gave remarks about the federal response to Hurricane Ian.

He added, "I just want the people of Florida to know we see what you are going through and we are with you. And we are going to do everything we can for you."

An aerial view of damaged properties after Hurricane Ian caused widespread destruction in Fort Myers Beach, Fla.,Sept. 30, 2022.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Biden said the U.S. Coast Guard has mobilized 16 helicopters, 18 rescue boats and six fixed-wing planes to help in search and rescue in Florida. More than 100 people have been rescued by the Coast Guard, Biden said. Hundreds more have been rescued by volunteers.

"The federal government will cover every cost, 100% of the cost, to clear the massive debris left in the wake of the hurricane and these counties," the president said. "It all needs to be cleared out for communities to begin the hard work of trying to get back on their feet."

President Joe Biden speaks about the ongoing federal response efforts for Hurricane Ian in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Sept. 30, 2022.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

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