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At least 12 people have died after Hurricane Ian tore across Florida with such ferocity that US President Joe Biden said it could be the deadliest in state history, reports NBC News and BBC.
Biden said that while the death toll remained unclear, early reports suggest the loss of life could be “substantial.”
“I spoke with the commissioners, and they are worried,” he said.
He said this while speaking after a briefing with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials Thursday morning.
As of Thursday evening, 12 people had been confirmed dead in the storm, with seven of them in Charlotte County, an area near the stretch of southwest coast where Ian made landfall Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking on MSNBC, Charlotte County Commissioner Christopher Constance attributed six of the fatalities to a county administrator. He later confirmed a seventh death.
Two people died in Sarasota County, a sheriff’s spokesperson there said, and one person drowned in Volusia County while trying to drain his pool, local law enforcement officials said.
Two more people died on Sanibel Island, where the category 4 storm wrecked a causeway linking it with Florida's mainland, the city manager said Thursday.
Additional details about the victims were not immediately available.
The National Hurricane Center says Ian has become a hurricane again after being downgraded to a tropical storm, and is taking aim at South Carolina.
More than 2.6 million Florida homes and businesses have no electricity and some areas have been left submerged.
Emergency crews are sawing through fallen trees to reach people who are trapped in their homes.
The hurricane made landfall on Wednesday near the city of Fort Myers and brought severe flooding, high winds and storm surges.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
