almost a week later hurricane ian effectFlorida (USA) authorities continue search and rescue operations with the support of more than a thousand rescuers. The official death toll is 72 this Tuesday, a different figure from the more than a hundred deaths reported by the US media..
Based on reports from forensic doctors, 4 confirmed deaths were added to the already counted 68, as reported in a statement by the Commission of Medical Examiners (MEC) late Tuesday, so now the figure is 72. Most of the deaths have been confirmed. This Tuesday, sheriff Carmine Marceno pointed out that there are 55 deaths across this border so far, 46 of which have been identified. Mostly in that county. people without electricityAbout 215,000 of the statewide total of more than 413,000, areas like Pine Island will be like this for a month, Karen Ryan, spokesperson for the Lee County Electric Cooperative, one of the energy companies, told CNN. .
State governor Ron DeSantis said just over 50% of subscribers in DeSoto and Charlotte counties are still out of supply, with some of the more than 42,000 workers displaced in that state working tirelessly to restore power. Executives of power company FPL, the largest provider in the state, said they expect 95% of customers to have electricity restored by Friday, excluding structures that have “catastrophic damage” or are still flooded. At a press conference, DeSantis added that they will repair the bridge connecting Pine Island to the mainland and that it is expected to become suitable for vehicular traffic this weekend, which will facilitate the development work.
In neighboring Sanibel, residents will be able to return and take stock of the damage starting this Wednesday, as announced by mayor Holly Smith on Tuesday. there are still parts of the island that are “extremely unsafe”. DeSantis said he expects to conduct an inspection on Sanibel Island on Wednesday.
US president, Joe Bidenand First Lady Jill Biden will visit Florida this Wednesday.They will be notified by Republican DeSantis, who is fiercely critical of many of the current federal government’s measures. This Tuesday, he once again criticized the Biden Administration’s immigration policy after noting that three of the four people so far detained for property theft amid the devastation left by Ian were undocumented and “should be deported to their country of origin”. Additional. The governor and Democratic president, whose name appears to be the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election, will meet for the second time after Biden visited South Florida in June last year after a condominium collapsed. In Surfside, where 98 people died. According to the White House, a week after Ian lands in the southwest of this state with winds of 240 km/h, Biden will land at noon and tour the area where he will talk to the survivors.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Guard has rescued more than 2,100 people and 50 pets in Ian-affected states: Florida, the Carolinas, and Tennessee among them.