Hurricane Ian caused unprecedented damage after trapping people in flooded homes and leaving more than two million people without electricity, the Florida governor says.
Ron DeSantis called the damage “historic” and disaster officials believe thousands of people could be displaced in the long term.
US President Joe Biden declared a major disaster, freeing up federal funds to pay for measures such as temporary housing for displaced people.
Ian was a category four storm with winds up to 150 mph when it hit southwest Florida on Wednesday, making it the fifth strongest joint hurricane to hit America.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told US media that the deaths could be “in the hundreds” and that he has received thousands of calls to the emergency health services.
“He crushed us,” Sheriff Marceno said. “We still can’t access many of the people in need.”
But the Florida governor said the observation was speculation based on the flood of calls to the emergency health services and that he hoped many of those people would stay safe.
Mr. DeSantis said there have been two unconfirmed casualties likely related to the storm so far.
One is believed to be a 72-year-old man killed near Daytona Beach after going out to drain his pool during the storm.
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Hurricane survivor: “My house is gone!”
A flooded street in Fort Myers, Florida
Electricity was cut by 2.6 million in Florida early Thursday morning, according to the Power Outage US website.
There was virtually no mobile phone service in some areas and internet connectivity was also affected.
“Portable towers are on the way for cellular service. Your loved ones may not be able to contact you,” the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said.
“We can tell you that as daylight reveals the consequences, it will be a difficult day.”
300 food and water trucks departing
According to the National Hurricane Center, a “severe and threatening” storm surge up to 10 feet high, including “destructive waves”, was underway on the southwest coast from Englewood to Bonita Beach.
Similar warnings telling people to “look for higher ground now” were in effect in other sections of the Florida coast.
In Port Charlotte, about 65 miles south of Tampa, the wave flooded a hospital emergency room and ripped off part of the roof of the intensive care unit.
“We have never seen a flood event like this,” the Florida governor said at a news conference Thursday morning.
“We have never seen a storm surge of this magnitude – and it hit an area where there are many people … It will end up doing massive damage to many people’s homes.”
Mr. DeSantis said the bridges were inspected for safety reasons, but the causeway to Sanibel Island was impassable after a piece fell into the sea and cut off more than 6,000 people.
More than 300 trucks containing food and water are also sent to southwest Florida, officials said, who warned the storm remains a major threat to the state.
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Flooded car rescue in Florida
A flooded street in Fort Myers, Florida
Thousands of people could be displaced in the long term due to the “catastrophic” damage, Deanne Criswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told CNN.
Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm early Thursday, but was expected to return to hurricane strength later, ahead of a second scheduled landing in South Carolina on Friday.
On the way to the United States, Ian hit Cuba and cut electricity to almost all 11 million people on the island.
