Hurricane Ian: Biden To Visit, 47 Dead, 650K No Power, Sanibel Impact

FLORIDA — More than a thousand people have been rescued from houses battered by Hurricane Ian, while at least 47 people in Florida are dead as search and rescue efforts entered a fourth day Sunday. Meanwhile, utility crews continue to restore power to about 650,000 homes and businesses, and Sen. Marco Rubio said Sanibel island will be uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.

• Stay up-to-date by viewing all Hurricane Ian coverage on Patch here.

Ian is now ranked as one of the top five worst hurricanes to ever hit the state and likely caused "well over $100 billion" in damage, according to numbers from one firm. The White House announced that President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden would travel to Florida on Wednesday.

Hurricane Ian's death toll rose to at least 54 people were confirmed dead: 47 in Florida, four in North Carolina and three in Cuba, according to the Associated Press.

The Washington Post reported 48 deaths in Florida on Sunday, and said the toll is expected to rise, as more autopsies are completed and recovery efforts continue. President Joe Biden warned that Ian could be Florida’s deadliest hurricane ever.

The bridge to Pine Island, the largest barrier island off Florida’s Gulf Coast, was destroyed by the storm, leaving it accessible only by boat or air. The volunteer group Medic Corps went door-to-door asking residents if they wanted to be evacuated by helicopter or boat.

Residents described the horror of being trapped in their homes as water kept rising.

“The water just kept pounding the house and we watched, boats, houses — we watched everything just go flying by,” Joe Conforti told AP. He said if it wasn’t for his wife, who suggested they get up on a table to avoid the rising water, he wouldn’t have made it: “I started to lose sensibility, because when the water’s at your door and it’s splashing on the door and you’re seeing how fast it’s moving, there’s no way you’re going to survive that.”

Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson on Sunday defended Lee County officials from accusations that they had been slow in ordering evacuations ahead of the storm.

“Warnings for hurricane season start in June. So there’s a degree of personal responsibility here. I think the county acted appropriately. The thing is, a certain percentage of people will not heed the warnings regardless,” Anderson said on the CBS show “Face the Nation.”

Florida’s Medical Examiners Commission said Saturday that most of the fatalities were from drowning. Many of the victims were over 60 years old. Bodies were found inside flooded cars, floating in waters and drowned on the beach, The Washington Post reported.

Officials said 30 of the victims in Florida were found in Lee County, which includes Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Cape Coral. The county does not have running water, and nearly 70 percent of remains without power, the Post said.

The causeway to the popular barrier island Sanibel is missing sections, cutting the island off from the mainland.

Sen. Marco Rubio told ABC News’s “This Week” that the island will be uninhabitable for the foreseeable future. “I think our priority now is to identify the people that remain on Sanibel who wanted to stay there, but eventually have to come off because there’s just no way to continue with life there,” Rubio said, adding that it will take “a couple of years at least” to rebuild the bridge.

The state website for reporting missing persons related to Hurricane Ian is http://missing.fl.gov. If you need to report a missing person, fill out the form on behalf of “Someone Else.” You can also fill out the form on behalf of yourself if communications are limited. Safe and found persons can be reported safe at http://safe.fl.gov.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized the National Flood Insurance Program to approve Florida’s request for a waiver allowing policyholders to access part of their claims without going through the full claims process.

"This process cuts through a lot of red tape, and provides critical funding to policyholders who can provide FEMA with basic information of out-of-pocket expenses related to repair or replacement of NFIP-insured property," said Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. "These advance payments are going to be essential to help Florida families get started on the difficult work of rebuilding.”

Ian unleashed more than 17 inches of rain on some places in Florida, swelling lakes, ponds, and rivers beyond their banks and into homes.

In the end, Ian likely caused "well over $100 billion" in damage, including $63 billion in privately insured losses, according to the disaster modeling firm Karen Clark & Co., which regularly issues flash catastrophe estimates.

If the numbers are true, that would make Ian at least the fourth costliest hurricane in U.S. history.

Boil water notices have been issued in more than 20 counties following Hurricane Ian. State officials are monitoring and maintaining a comprehensive statewide list of notices for Floridians to access online.

Across the southwest and central regions of the state, about 800,000 homes and businesses remained without power on Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.