Hurricane Ian Death Toll Climbing Rapidly

As Florida continues to try and recover from Hurricane Ian, the total number reported dead is continuing to ascend rapidly. The southwest corner of the state was hit the hardest, with 42 dead in Lee County alone according to Reuters. 39 more are reported dead in nearby counties. After impacting the Gulf Coast south of Tampa, Hurricane Ian carved a path eastward across the state, returning to sea after passing straight over Titusville as a tropical storm. At least four more deaths were reported when Ian reformed as a hurricane over the Atlantic and battered the North Carolina coast. If death tolls continue rising as they have been, Ian stands to go down as one of the deadliest hurricanes in Florida’s history. Locally speaking, Volusia County was among the hardest-hit areas on the Atlantic Coast of Florida. Huge swaths of the county are under several inches of floodwater if not more as of Monday, and emergency responders are working day and night to bring relief. Thousands of linemen have been out on the streets nonstop to try and restore power to as many residents as possible. Five deaths have been recorded in Volusia County so far by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission. These individuals ranged in age from 67 to 91, and all were as a result of drowning. One additional death in Volusia County occurred when a Deltona was trying to pump water out of his swimming pool, only to slip and fall down a hill in his yard.