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.
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7,000 National Guardsmen deployed to help
Five-thousand members of the Florida National Guard have been activated to help during Hurricane Ian. Another 2,000 guardsmen from Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina are also coming to help, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
Nearly 300 ambulances and support vehicles are being deployed to areas bracing for Ian’s landfall, DeSantis said.
-ABC News’ Alex Faul
Tampa may shut down airport
In Tampa, where residents are bracing for 10 feet of dangerous storm surge, the Tampa International Airport may shut down parts of its airfield and facilities over the next day or two, airport officials announced.
The airport is in an evacuation zone, but because it’s critical infrastructure, it’s “exempt from the storm evacuation order and will stay open until a closure is necessary,” airport officials said in a statement.
It’s been 101 years since Tampa last had a direct hit from a major hurricane.
Sarasota, Tampa-area schools close
Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa will be closed Monday through Thursday due to the storm. Instead, some schools will operate as storm shelters, the district said.
In Sarasota County, schools will be closed on Tuesday.
NASA rolling Artemis rocket back off launch pad
NASA said it will roll the Artemis I rocket off the launch pad and back to the vehicle assembly building on Monday night due to the storm.
“Managers met Monday morning and made the decision based on the latest weather predictions associated with Hurricane Ian, after additional data gathered overnight did not show improving expected conditions for the Kennedy Space Center area,” NASA said in a statement. “The decision allows time for employees to address the needs of their families and protect the integrated rocket and spacecraft system.”
'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