CNN –
Days after Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida, shocked residents are still assessing the damage from record storm surge, damaging winds and catastrophic flooding that left some areas of the Sunshine State unrecognizable.
At least 67 people were killed by Ian in Florida as its raging waters swallowed homes, washed out roads and snapped power lines. Four people also died in storm-related incidents in North Carolina, officials said.
Nearly 900,000 customers in Florida were still without power as of Sunday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. More than 30,000 were without power in North Carolina.
The hurricane, expected to be the costliest storm in Florida’s history, made landfall on Wednesday as a powerful Category 4 and by Saturday had weakened to a post-tropical cyclone, bringing rain to parts of West Virginia and western Maryland.
Although the sun has returned to Florida, many of them are struggling with Ian’s aftermath: a power grid that could take weeks to fix, destroyed homes, damaged landmarks and lost loved ones.
The devastation spread from Florida’s coastal cities to inland cities like Orlando, but was felt most keenly in southwestern coastal communities like Fort Myers and Naples.
Crews had rescued and evacuated more than 1,070 people from flooded areas in southwest and central Florida and transported 78 people from a flooded senior care facility Saturday morning, the governor’s office said Ron DeSantis in a press release.
The U.S. Coast Guard also conducted rescues, navigating rough conditions after the storm, Rear Adm. Brendan McPherson told CNN.
“We fly and are operating in areas that are unrecognizable,” he said. “There are no street signs. They don’t look like they used to. The buildings that used to be a reference to the community are no longer there.”
Many of the deaths linked to Ian have been reported in Lee County in southwest Florida, which includes Fort Myers and Sanibel Island, where at least 35 people died.
Local officials are facing criticism over whether mandatory evacuations in Lee County should have been issued earlier. Officials there did not order evacuations until less than 24 hours before the storm made landfall, and a day after several neighboring counties issued their orders.
DeSantis defended the timing of the Lee County orders Saturday, saying they were issued as soon as the storm’s projected path shifted south, putting the area in Ian’s crosshairs.
The storm toll in Florida also includes 12 deaths in Charlotte County, eight in Collier County, five in Volusia County, three in Sarasota County and one each in Polk, Lake, Hendry and Manatee counties, officials said .
President Joe Biden continued to pledge federal support to Florida, saying Hurricane Ian is “likely to rank among the worst … in the nation’s history.”
The president and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Puerto Rico on Monday to survey damage from Hurricane Fiona, then head to Florida on Wednesday, according to a White House statement.
After Hurricane Ian ended its devastating path across Florida, residents emerged, surveying damaged homes, picking up debris and maneuvering flooded roads.
According to the governor, the Florida National Guard was working on search and rescue missions with local authorities in southwest and central Florida on Saturday, pulling distressed residents from flooded areas and lifting some to safety by helicopter.
People on Sanibel and Captiva islands found themselves cut off from the mainland after parts of a causeway were destroyed by the storm, leaving boats and helicopters as the only exit options.
Civilian volunteer groups were working to help residents evacuate Sanibel, where aerial images showed many cottages lining the island’s shores were washed away.
Sanibel Island resident Andy Boyle was on the island when the hurricane hit. He said he lost his home and two cars, but feels lucky to be alive.
“A lot of people have very expensive, well-built homes on Sanibel and thought that with their multimillion-dollar homes built like fortresses, they would be fine,” Boyle said.
Boyle was braving the storm at home when the dining room roof collapsed. “That’s when we started to worry,” he said.
He described flying National Guard planes down the next day outside his home and seeing the scenes of devastation on the island.
“When you go to the east end of the island, there’s just a lot of destruction. The houses around the lighthouse are gone. When you go to the west end of the island, the old restaurants up there, they’re gone . The street that goes to Captiva is now a beach,” Boyle said.
The U.S. Coast Guard plans to evacuate people from Lee County’s Pine Island during daylight hours Sunday, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
Residents were also evacuated from the Hidden River area of Sarasota County after a compromised levee threatened to flood homes, the sheriff’s office said Saturday.
Another thing that complicates the recovery is the lack of electricity and irregular communication in the affected areas.
It could be up to a week starting Sunday before power is restored in counties damaged by the storm, said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of Florida Power & Light Company. And some customers may not be back online for “weeks or months” because some buildings with structural damage will need safety inspections.
About 65 percent of all power outages in Florida from the storm had been restored by early Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us.
Florida is also working with Elon Musk and the Starlink satellite to help restore communication in the state, according to DeSantis. “They are positioning these Starlink satellites to provide good coverage in Southwest Florida and other affected areas,” DeSantis said.
Emergency services in Lee County will be among those receiving Starlink devices.
Fort Myers councilman Liston Bochette told CNN the city was hit hard, with “significant problems” with the city’s water, electrical and sewer systems.
In Charlotte County, residents are “facing a tragedy” without homes, electricity or water supplies, said Claudette Smith, public information officer for the sheriff’s office.
“We need it all, to put it simply. We need it all. We need all hands on deck,” Smith told CNN on Friday. “The people who have come to help us have been very helpful, but we need everything.”
Hurricane Ian may have caused up to $47 billion in insured losses in Florida, according to an estimate by property analysis firm CoreLogic, which could make it the costliest storm in the state’s history.
After hitting Florida, Ian made landfall in the United States near Georgetown, South Carolina, on Friday afternoon as a Category 1 hurricane, and began pounding the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas with ferocious winds and rain.
In North Carolina, the four storm-related deaths include a man who drowned when his truck went into a flooded swamp; two people who died in separate accidents; and a man who died of carbon monoxide poisoning after running a generator in a closed garage, according to Gov. Roy Cooper’s office.
No deaths have been reported in South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster said Saturday.
The storm has flooded homes and submerged vehicles along the South Carolina coast. Two piers, one in Pawleys Island and one in North Myrtle Beach, partially collapsed as high winds pushed the water even higher.
Edgar Stephens, who manages the Cherry Grove Pier in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, stood feet away as a 100-foot section from the center of the pier crashed into the ocean.
Stephens said the Cherry Grove Pier is a staple for community members and tourists alike.
“We’re a destination, not just a fishing pier,” Stephens said.