Death toll continues to grow in Hurricane Ian's wake; heavy floods predicted from Florida to southern Mid-Atlantic

CHARLESTON, South Carolina --- The decease toll from Hurricane Ian rose Saturday to much than 77 arsenic 1 of strongest and costliest storms to ever deed the U.S. pushed northward from the Carolinas leaving successful its aftermath a trifecta of misery --- unsafe flooding, powerfulness outages and monolithic destruction.

Ian, which slammed into Florida connected Wednesday with 150 mph winds, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone aft marching across South Carolina and was expected to weaken adjacent much arsenic it moved aboriginal Saturday into south-central Virginia earlier rolling into the mid-Atlantic.

The tempest was inactive wielding maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

But the NHC besides warned of imaginable flash-flooding some successful municipality and agrarian areas crossed the cardinal Appalachians and the confederate Mid-Atlantic portion done the play arsenic good arsenic continued record stream flooding across parts of Florida.

The 77 confirmed storm-related deaths were recorded successful Florida and North Carolina, according to a tally by authorities officials and an NBC News count. And with rescue efforts ongoing and the floodwater receding successful places littered with wrecked homes, section officials warned the decease toll could inactive rise.

At slightest 1,100 rescues person been made successful Florida since Ian made landfall successful the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis said successful a quality league connected Saturday.

"There's been a large outpouring of enactment and I've seen a batch of resilience successful this assemblage of radical that privation to prime themselves up and they privation to get their communities backmost connected their feet," DeSantis told reporters. "We'll beryllium present and we'll beryllium helping each measurement of the way."

Rear Adm. Brendan McPherson, who commands the Coast Guard successful Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, told the Today Show connected Saturday greeting that power outages were complicating rescue efforts arsenic radical successful affected communities without compartment telephone work oregon energy were temporarily chopped disconnected from the remainder of the world. 

"It's 1 of the biggest challenges," helium said. "Immediately aft this tempest we had question and find aerial crews looking for radical needing assistance."

But, McPherson said, astir of the areas that had been chopped disconnected successful southwest Florida person present been accessed either by aerial oregon by municipality hunt and rescue teams that went doorway to doorway by boat.

In Florida, astir 1.3 cardinal homes and businesses were inactive without powerfulness aboriginal Saturday, 3 days aft Ian deed the state.

The deficiency of powerfulness and h2o is wherefore Meah Fields, 16, and her household had to permission their Cape Coral home, wherever they rode retired the storm, for Sarasota. The teen said they each needed a spot wherever they could recharge and freshen up until energy is restored successful the coastal city.

As of now, she doesn't cognize erstwhile they volition instrumentality home.

Ian was Fields' archetypal hurricane. Her household evacuated during Irma successful 2017 but decided to enactment this clip due to the fact that they didn't deliberation Ian would deed them. They besides didn't expect Ian's ferocity, she said successful a telephone telephone Saturday.

"It was honestly truly scary. … My parents were adjacent saying that they ne'er experienced thing similar this," she said. "It was hurricane-strength winds for astatine slightest 10 hours."

Fields, her 14-year-old brother, and her parents hunkered down successful the hallway until the tempest passed. Aside from immoderate missing shingles, the family's location was spared.

In Fort Myers, which aboriginal connected bore the brunt of Ian, residents waded done knee-deep h2o and utilized canoes and rafts to salvage what possessions they could find from their flooded homes.

"I privation to beryllium successful the country and cry," Stevie Scuderi told The Associated Press arsenic she shuffled done her mostly destroyed Fort Myers apartment, the mud successful her room sticking to her purple sandals. "I don't cognize what other to do."

In South Carolina, Ian's oculus came ashore adjacent Georgetown, a tiny assemblage on the Winyah Bay astir 60 miles northbound of historical Charleston. The tempest washed distant parts of 4 piers on the coast, including 2 that nexus to the fashionable tourer municipality of Myrtle Beach. More than 62,000 customers did not person power.