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:
Ian downgraded to post-tropical cyclone
Ian has become a post-tropical cyclone, but winds remain at 70 mph and the "dangerous storm surge, flash flooding and high wind threat continues," the National Hurricane Center said in its latest bulletin.
Hurricane warning and watch areas have now been discontinued, though a tropical storm warning has been issued from Edisto Beach, South Carolina, to Cape Fear, North Carolina.
Pregnant Florida woman drives through Hurricane Ian to give birth
Floridian Hanna-Kay Williams started to experience contractions late Tuesday evening, just as the Orlando area was experiencing signs of the hurricane to come.
So she braved the strong winds and potentially dangerous flooding to get to a hospital after she went into labor during Hurricane Ian.
"I was going in and out because the car was swaying in the wind and the rain was intense, but my fiancé is a great driver so I was in great hands," Williams, 22, of Melbourne, told ABC News.
Read more about the account here.
-ABC News' Mary Kekatos
Ian makes landfall in South Carolina as Category 1 storm
Hurricane Ian made landfall in South Carolina Friday afternoon as a powerful Category 1 storm, bringing damaging winds and life-threatening storm surge.
Ian made landfall near Georgetown. The storm is expected to move further inland across eastern South Carolina and central North Carolina through the night and into Saturday.
After making landfall, it is expected to weaken and rapidly transition into a post-tropical cyclone overnight. It is forecast to bring heavy rain to North Carolina and Virginia and up through the Northeast on Saturday.
Rainfall rates have been up to 2 inches per hour with heavy rain bands in the Charleston area. Wind gusts up to 92 mph have been recorded.
Biden calls Florida damage 'among worst in nation's history'
President Joe Biden spoke from the White House Friday afternoon about Hurricane Ian's wrath, describing the devastation in Florida as well as warning residents of South Carolina to be prepared for another landfall.
"We're just beginning to see the scale of that destruction," Biden said of the damage in Florida. "It is likely to rank among the worst in the nation's history. You have all seen on television, homes and property wiped out. It is going to take months, years to rebuild."
He added, "I just want the people of Florida to know we see what you are going through and we are with you. And we are going to do everything we can for you."
Biden said the U.S. Coast Guard has mobilized 16 helicopters, 18 rescue boats and six fixed-wing planes to help in search and rescue in Florida. More than 100 people have been rescued by the Coast Guard, Biden said. Hundreds more have been rescued by volunteers.
"The federal government will cover every cost, 100% of the cost, to clear the massive debris left in the wake of the hurricane and these counties," the president said. "It all needs to be cleared out for communities to begin the hard work of trying to get back on their feet."
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.