The death toll linked to Hurricane Ian has grown to at least 52, a devastating figure officials warned will likely climb as rescue crews continue their search for survivors still trapped among the wreckage and catastrophic flooding brought on by the megastorm.

The majority of deaths occurred in Lee County, Fla., which was late to issue a mandatory evacuation order as the storm approached.

Authorities in the county, which includes Fort Myers and Cape Canaveral, are still working to assess the full scope of damage while carrying out search and rescue operations. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said authorities still need to notify next of kin before releasing the identities of those who died.

“Today we’ve had over 600 to 700 rescues of people that are in need during this difficult time, with about 35 deaths, unfortunately,” he said.

A car drives through high water from the effects from Hurricane Ian, Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Charleston, S.C. (Alex Brandon/AP)

“It is with a heavy heard that I say that number,” Marceno continued. “We are going to work harder and we are going to be stronger than ever.”

While nearby counties encouraged their most vulnerable residents to flee at the start of the week, Lee County did not issue a mandatory evacuation order until Tuesday — less than 24 hours before Ian slammed into the Sunshine State as a massive Category 4 hurricane with windspeeds topping 150 mph. By the time residents received the emergency alert, it was already too late to flee for some, likely contributing to the staggering death toll in the region, the New York Times reported.

Elsewhere in Florida, an elderly couple died after they lost power as Ian loomed and their oxygen machines shut down. In North Carolina, a 65-year-old man died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning early Saturday, marking the state’s first storm-related death. He was running a generator inside a closed garage after Ian knocked out power to his home in Raleigh, WRAL reported.

The storm was also blamed for three deaths in Cuba, where residents are still without power nearly a week after Ian’s arrival.

Ian made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane In South Carolina near Georgetown Friday afternoon after an initial landfall in Florida on Wednesday.

Debris from destroyed buildings swept from the beachfront lies amid damaged homes, two days after the passage of Hurricane Ian, in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP)

The storm downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone early Saturday as it continued to move north through North Carolina on Saturday before dissipating over Virginia.

Meteorologists forecast several inches of rain across Appalachian North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. According to the the National Hurricane Center, there was potential for as much as six inches and “considerable” flooding in parts of western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia. Maximum sustained winds of 35 mph were also expected to lash the region.

Ian’s impacts on Saturday were forecast to stretch throughout the Chesapeake Bay region and into southern New Jersey, where thunderstorms and strong winds were the in forecast.

Fort Myers and Naples were particularly hard hit by Ian, as were Orlando and cities along Florida’s northeastern coast. Rescue crews continued to search by both land and sky for survivors trapped inside their flooded homes while residents tried to salvage any possessions not entirely destroyed by the storm.

“I want to sit in the corner and cry. I don’t know what else to do,” Stevie Scuderi said after shuffling through her mostly destroyed Fort Myers apartment.

Damage to a trailer park is seen after Hurricane Ian passed by the area Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, in Fort Myers, Fla. (Steve Helber/AP)

Many Floridians were also without clean drinking water after water systems across the state were polluted or failed amid the storm.

Record amounts of rainfall drenched some parts of Florida, including 17 inches in Union Park, near Orlando, and 15 inches south of Daytona in New Smyrna Beach, according to the National Weather Service. Major flooding is also expected to persist in Florida through next week.

What’s more, at least a million homes and businesses across the state are still without power. Electricity was also knocked out for over 300,000 customers in North Carolina and almost 100,000 in Virginia as of Saturday morning, according to poweroutage.us.

In South Carolina, residents and officials have only just begun to survey the damage caused by Ian. The storm barreled into the Palmetto State with torrential rains and windspeeds of 60 mph, flooding homes and submerging cars along the coastline.

Disaster modeling firm Karen Clark & Co., which regularly issues flash catastrophe estimates, said Ian likely caused “well over $100 billion” in damage, including $63 billion in privately insured losses. If the numbers are accurate, Ian would be at least the fourth costliest hurricane in U.S. history.

Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News

Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News