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:
Biden, DeSantis speak again after Ian's destruction
President Joe Biden spoke with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Thursday morning to discuss support for the state in response to Hurricane Ian and the disaster declaration the president approved overnight, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a tweet.
"The President told the Governor he is sending his FEMA Administrator to Florida tomorrow to check in on response efforts and see where additional support is needed. The President and Governor committed to continued close coordination," she wrote in a tweet.
Biden first spoke to the governor, a leading political opponent of Biden and possible 2024 Republican presidential candidate, on Tuesday after several days of questions about whether the two would connect.
-ABC News' Justin Gomez
'We've never seen a flood event like this,' Florida governor says
Hurricane Ian caused extensive and "historic" impact and damage in across Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a press conference Thursday.
"The impacts of this storm are historic and the damage that was done has been historic and this is just off initial assessments. There's going to be a lot more assessing that goes on in the days ahead," DeSantis said.
"But I think we've never seen a flood event like this. We've never seen storm surge of this magnitude and it hit an area where there's a lot of people in a lot of those low-lying areas and it's going to end up doing extensive damage to a lot of people's homes," he said.
As of 6 a.m., there are 2.02 million customers without power, according to DeSantis.
DeSantis said Charlotte and Lee counties are "basically off the grid at this point." The areas will likely need a rebuilding of their infrastructure.
Ian, now a tropical storm, heads for South Carolina, Georgia coast
Ian, now a tropical storm, is near Florida’s east coast and is moving back over water. Ian is expected to re-intensify and could be at near-hurricane strength when it approaches the coast of South Carolina on Friday.
A hurricane watch has been issued for South Carolina and the Georgia coast.
Ian is producing catastrophic flooding over east-central Florida and is expected to produce life-threatening flooding, storm surge and gusty winds across portions of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.
There are already more than 14,000 customers without power in Georgia.
-ABC News' Max Golembo
Water service out in Punta Gorda, boil water notice in effect until further notice
Hurricane Ian caused serious damage to the city of Punta Gorda's water system, leaving it empty, the city said in an alert sent out to residents.
Water services will be restored as repairs are made, but the city warned it may take days to complete the repairs, officials said.
The city is under a boil water notice.
Officials set up a water fill station for residents and additional water availability has been requested through the Emergency Operations Center, the city said.
Ian, a Category 3, expected to strengthen more
Ian, now a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds, has strengthened on Tuesday and is forecast to strengthen even more into the night.
The latest track shows Ian making landfall on Wednesday, striking the west coast of Florida between Tampa and Fort Myers, bringing flooding and damaging winds.
Hurricane warnings are in effect from Tampa to Fort Myers and storm surge warnings are in effect for a large portion of Florida’s west coast.
There is also a risk for tornadoes in Florida Tuesday and Wednesday.