Hurricane Ian Death Toll Hits 100 Amid Criticism of Florida's Evacuation Plans
AllSides Summary
As the death toll from Hurricane Ian passes 100, Florida officials are facing criticism over their evacuation plans and a purported lack of preventative measures that may have saved lives.
In Lee County, where Ian hit as a Category 4 hurricane last Wednesday, over 50 people have been confirmed dead. The county didn't order evacuations until the day before, unlike several other nearby counties, which ordered evacuations on Monday. Florida's director of emergency management said he believes officials "made the best decision they felt was right for their community at that time." When asked about whether more could have been done to prevent deaths, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said we should "spend a little more time…maybe thanking the people that are out there on the front lines saving people’s lives." DeSantis also said over 1,900 rescues had been made as of Monday.
Roughly 391,000 homes and businesses remained without power in Florida on Tuesday, and the storm's damage is expected to cost upwards of $50 billion to repair, especially two main roadways in the Ft. Myers area. President Biden plans to visit Florida Wednesday to assess the damage.
Coverage from left-rated sources tended to frame the storm response from DeSantis and other Florida officials as inadequate, and to paint DeSantis as a hypocrite for requesting federal aid. Right-rated sources tended to focus more on defenses of DeSantis and the late evacuation order for Lee County.
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From the Center
Hurricane Ian’s Florida Death Toll Tops 100
Hurricane Ian’s death toll continues to rise, surpassing 100 in Florida as of Tuesday after the hardest-hit Lee County reported even more fatalities, according to county-level death tolls, as search and rescue efforts remain ongoing for one of the deadliest storms in recent history in Florida.
More than half of the deaths have occurred in Lee County, where at least 54 people have been killed, Sheriff Carmine Marceno said at a news conference Monday.
Lee County includes the communities of Fort Myers and Sanibel, which took near-direct hits from Ian as the Category...
From the Right
Florida sheriff defends Lee County's evacuation plan, prep for Hurricane Ian: 'We wouldn't change anything'
Florida Sheriff Carmine Marceno defended Lee County's evacuation order on Monday, firing back against critics questioning the decision not to impose a mandatory evacuation order for Hurricane Ian until the day before the storm ravaged the area.
In an interview on "The Story," Marceno praised the hard-hit county's preparations leading up Ian’s landfall, telling Fox News host Martha MacCallum that Ian's "unpredictable" trajectory made it difficult to guess exactly where it was going to strike.
"A lot of people want to sit here and say ‘oh, could you have done it quicker, could...
From the Left
At least 100 dead from Hurricane Ian as Florida's top emergency official defends Lee County over delayed evacuations
Hurricane Ian's death toll reached 100 Monday as Florida's top emergency administrator pushed back against growing criticism of Lee County officials who were accused of being slow to evacuate low-lying communities.
The latest count was 96 deaths in Florida and four in North Carolina. Lee County, Florida, where officials didn't order evacuations until Tuesday, 54 had been confirmed dead. Ian made landfall Wednesday, devastating Fort Myers and Sanibel Island.
“I believe Lee County and their administration …. made the best decision they felt was right for their community at that time," said Kevin Guthrie,...
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