Hurricane Ian updates: Florida death toll climbs

Ian, the first hurricane to make landfall in South Carolina since Matthew in 2016, has not caused any deaths in South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster said Saturday.

“Another good story for South Carolina, and we’re open for business,” he said at a news conference.

Ian barreled through South Carolina on Friday. The hardest-hit areas were along the coast from Charleston to Horry County, said Kim Stenson, director of the South Carolina Emergency Management Division. Charleston saw 6 to 8 inches of rain.

The remnants of Hurricane Ian, once a Category 4 hurricane that made multiple U.S. landfalls, are pushing up the mid-Atlantic and bringing widespread rain from Virginia to Connecticut.

Ian is now considered a post-tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph.

Flood watches are in effect in Virginia and West Virginia, where up to 6 inches of rain is expected through Saturday afternoon. A wind advisory is also in effect; gusts could reach 50 mph at higher elevations.

The rain will then continue to move north. Some of the Northeast coast, especially Delaware and Long Island, could see up to 6 inches of rain over the next 48 hours.

-ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke

President Biden has declared that an emergency exists in North Carolina and ordered federal assistance to help with the state's response in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

"The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population," the White House said in a statement released early Saturday.

FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize and provide equipment and resources to help the recovery efforts on the ground.

"Deanne Criswell, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named John F. Boyle as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected areas," said the White House."

Ian’s winds have come down to 50 mph as the storm continues to move north as a post-tropical cyclone.

Ian will continue to weaken as it moves north, and will bring heavy rainfall in short periods of time through the morning hours, prompting flood watches to be issued from North Carolina to West Virginia.

Sanibel, Florida Mayor Holly Smith said that her city will not be the same following Hurricane Ian's catastrophic impact.

Smith said she was on the island for four hours Friday and witnessed the devastation firsthand.

"Unless you're on the ground, you really can't take in the gravity of what we experienced. It's a different Sanibel," Smith told ABC News Live Prime.

Smith said that she was checking in on 300 residents and that it was very important to make contact.

"As far as we know at this point, the number of fatalities recorded are four,'' Smith said.

"This is going to be a very long recovery process," Smith added of the efforts to get everybody off the island and to safety. "It's not habitable."