Death toll from Hurricane Ian rising, DeSantis dismisses reports of ‘hundreds’ of deaths so far

The path of utter destruction left by Hurricane Ian this week has left communities wiped out and 45 people confirmed dead so far.

A report by one county sheriff on Thursday that hundreds of people had been killed in the hurricane was dismissed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis later the same day, saying officials were not able to confirm that number. Florida’s death toll currently stands at 45 but is expected to rise as search, rescue and recovery efforts continue.

The massive storm left more than 2 million Americans without power in the southeastern United States, as it left the coastal Carolinas on Friday evening and dissipated to a post-tropical cyclone as it moved further inland. The storm system is expected to dump rain in the mid-Atlantic region all weekend.

It is estimated that Hurricane Ian could turn out to be one of the most costly storms in Florida’s history. Research firm CoreLogic estimated the damage in the state at $47 billion in insured losses.

Ian made landfall in Florida on Wednesday night as a category 4 hurricane and tore through the central part of the state, causing massive flooding and leveling businesses and residences in some parts. After being downgraded to a tropical storm, Ian once again intensified and made a second landfall in South Carolina as a category 1 hurricane.

“We’ve never seen a flood event like this,” said Governor DeSantis on Thursday. “The amount of water that’s been rising and will likely continue to rise today – even as the storm is passing – is basically a 500-year event.”