Florida death toll from Hurricane Ian rises to 47

Authorities in Florida confirmed several additional deaths late Saturday, raising the state’s death toll from Hurricane Ian to at least 47.

The death list compiled and released by the state medical examiner reports many drowning deaths, with victims found submerged or floating in the storm.

Ian slammed into Florida’s southwest Gulf Coast earlier this week as a Category 4 hurricane, then crossed the peninsula across the Atlantic before hitting the southeastern US coast as a Category 1 hurricane.

North Carolina reported four other storm-related deaths and Cuba reported three.

As of Saturday, more than 1,000 people had been rescued in flooded areas on Florida’s southwest coast alone, four-star general and National Guard chief Daniel Hokanson told The Associated Press as he parachuted into Florida.

On Pine Island, the largest barrier island on Florida’s Gulf Coast, houses were razed and boats littered roads as a volunteer rescue team went door-to-door to ask quarantined residents if they wanted to evacuate. Residents described the horror of being trapped in their homes as water levels kept rising.

“The water kept beating on the house and we watched, the boat, the house – we watched everything fly by,” Joe Conforti said, fighting back tears.

He said he would not have done it if his wife hadn’t advised them to climb on the table to avoid the rising water: “I started losing my mind because when the water is on your door it splashes on the door and you Seeing how fast it’s moving, you’re not going to be spared.”

River flooding sometimes poses a major challenge to relief and material delivery efforts. On Saturday, the Myakka River rushed across Interstate 75, forcing the temporary closure of the traffic-congested highway.

While rising water levels in Florida’s southwest rivers are at or near their highest point, they are not expected to drop significantly for several days, said National Weather Service meteorologist Tyler Fleming in Tampa.

Elsewhere, South Carolina’s Polis Island — a beach community about 75 miles (115 kilometers) off the coast of Charleston — was one of the hardest hit. At least half of the island remained without power on Saturday.

Pawleys Pier was one of at least four piers along the South Carolina coast that were destroyed by wind and rain. Meanwhile, the inland waterway was littered with the wreckage of several houseboats whose stakes had been knocked down.