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:
Desolation, and relief, in Key West
Key West did not escape hardship, but in Ian's wake, many Key West residents have expressed relief that the coastal city hadn't endured far worse.
The path of the then-Category 4 hurricane veered west of Key West, sparing it the strongest of the storm's impact. Flooding was reported in nearly 100 apartments. Though the city suffered no casualties or uptick in emergency room visits, Alyson Crean, a public officer with the Key West Fire Department, told ABC News. The city largely returned to normal on Friday, as businesses and schools reopened.
The mix of desolation and relief in Key West embodies the range of fates across Florida, where some communities escaped largely unscathed while others saw tragedy.
"We were relieved when we saw that the storm was turning a different way," Jennifer McComb, the chief executive at the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys, told ABC News. "For a while, it looked like it could've been a direct hit."
Read more here.
-ABC News' Max Zahn
A search for a survivor told on social media
As Hurricane Ian was bearing down on southwestern Florida Wednesday, Beth Booker received photos and videos showing Ian's storm surge starting to fill her mother's Fort Myers home.
Then, shortly after the storm made landfall in Florida, the updates stopped.
Unable to communicate with her mom, Carole McDanel, any longer, Booker turned to Twitter, using the hashtag #GetCaroleHome and asked her followers for help.
Some 24 hours later, Booker tweeted the news that McDanel had been found.
Read more about their emotional reunion here.
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.
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
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.
More than 1.68 million people are still without power in Florida.
'Massive mobilization' of utility trucks on the way to Florida, governor says
A caravan of utility trucks is making its way from several states toward the parts of Florida most battered by Hurricane Ian to restore power after the worst of the storm has passed, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
"We have a massive, massive mobilization," DeSantis said, adding that workers are coming from other southern states accustomed to hurricane cleanup, such as Texas and Louisiana.
More nearly 1.5 million customers in Florida were without power Wednesday as Ian made landfall near Fort Myers.
Ian continued to batter a large swath of Florida at 6:15 p.m. ET, with life-threatening storm surge all along the southwest coast — up to 12 feet in some places, DeSantis said.
Downtown Naples was reportedly completely flooded due to record storm surge, and while there were also reports of structural damage in Lee County, DeSantis said.
"This was a top five hurricane to ever hit the Florida peninsula," the governor said.
DeSantis said that devastating inland flooding was inundating much of the regions experiencing hurricane conditions, as well.
DeSantis has declared a major disaster in the state.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky