A local official in Charlotte County, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Ian in Florida, announced that so far ten people have died since the storm hit this part of the US.
Joseph Tiseo, a local commissioner, said it was not yet clear how many of those deaths were a direct result of the hurricane.
“We had a lot of calls as the storm approached, but we had to suspend emergency services because we couldn’t get our emergency services on the road during the hurricane. We don’t know how many people died from other causes,” he said.
Local emergency services are still monitoring the calls received.
Commissioner Tiseo said the damage in Charlotte County, north of Fort Myers, was caused mostly by strong winds, not by storms like in areas further south.
“We had a storm that lasted 12 hours from noon to midnight. It was brutal,” he said.
Otherwise, Hurricane Ian hit Cuba first, causing total darkness in the country on Tuesday.
Meanwhile in Puerto Rico, the massive cleanup effort continues after the hurricane hit the Caribbean island last week.