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:
At least 30 rescues in Naples Wednesday
There were at least 30 rescues in Naples, Florida, on Wednesday amid ongoing rescue operations, the Collier County Sheriff's Office said.
"Our East Naples deputies did 30 rescue missions today. We are still collecting numbers from other areas. We are still rescuing people," the office wrote on Facebook.
"Water is everywhere. It will recede. There will be damage," it added. "Tomorrow we will have a better idea of the extent of damage. We will keep you updated."
More than 2 million customers without power in Florida
The number of customers without power in Florida has topped 2 million, as Hurricane Ian continues making its way across the state.
Most of the outages are in the southern Gulf side of the state, primarily in Lee, Collier, Charlotte and Sarasota counties.
The outages are moving east as the storm moves across the state.
-ABC News' Darren Reynolds
Jacksonville mayor announces closure of 3 major beaches
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry announced Wednesday evening that the city is closing Atlantic, Neptune and Jacksonville beaches ahead of Hurricane Ian’s impact on the area.
“We will reopen as soon as it’s safe for citizens,” Curry tweeted.
Ian downgraded to Category 2 hurricane
Hurricane Ian has been downgraded to a Category 2 storm as of a 9 p.m. ET update, with winds now at 105 mph.
-ABC News' Riley Winch
'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.