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:
Bidens to visit Puerto Rico, Florida
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Puerto Rico on Monday, and Florida on Wednesday to survey the damage from Hurricane Fiona and Hurricane Ian, respectively, the White House announced Saturday night.
Biden had previously said he would visit Florida to see the destruction in person, and that it was his "intention" to do the same for Puerto Rico.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle
Florida death toll climbs
Florida’s death toll from Hurricane Ian has climbed to at least 72, according to information from local officials.
Lee County, which encompasses Fort Myers, accounts for the majority of the fatalities, with at least 35 lives lost in the county, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
In Charlotte County, which is home to Punta Gorda, the preliminary death toll is 23, the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office told ABC News.
Other fatalities were reported in Sarasota, Volusia, Lake, Collier, Hendry and Manatee counties.
Despite the "complete devastation" in Lee County, Sheriff Carmine Marceno said Saturday that "there's light at the end of the tunnel. ... We are going to be stronger than ever."
"We are one big family together. That's what makes us great. And sometimes these horrific events bring us all together for us to move forward," Marceno said.
-ABC News’ Matt Foster
1.05 million without power in Florida
Over 1.05 million customers remain without power in Florida on Saturday, days after Hurricane Ian tore through the state.
Another 56,800 customers are without power in North Carolina and more than 17,000 are in the dark in Virginia after Ian and its remnants moved north.
Over 1,100 people rescued in Florida by National Guard
More than 1,100 Floridians have been rescued by the Florida National Guard in the wake of Hurricane Ian, according to state officials.
The rescues include 1,076 people evacuated from flooded areas in southwest and central Florida as of Saturday morning, as well as 78 people transported from a flooded nursing home facility, Gov. Ron DeSantis' office said in a press release.
Biden approves North Carolina emergency declaration
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.
