Hurricane Ian Death Toll in U.S. Hits 100 Across Three States

The death toll from Ian reached 100 on Friday, making it the third most deadly hurricane to hit the mainland in a decade.

The number of confirmed deaths across three states continues to climb nine days after Ian roared ashore in Florida with 150-mile (240-kilometer) winds, leveling homes, unleashing floods and knocking out power to 2.6 million homes and businesses. It killed 94 people in Florida, five in North Carolina and one in Virginia. Three people also died in Cuba, which Ian barreled over before hitting the US, according to official state totals.The flooding and destruction left behind by Ian has made it difficult to know exactly how many have died in the storm. Officials expect the death count to continue to climb.Ian’s death toll is the most on the US mainland since 2017’s Hurricane Irma, which killed 129 people, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other storms with high death tolls include 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, which killed 117 people and Hurricane Katrina which killed about 1,800 people in 2005.

The official death toll from Hurricane Maria’s devastation of Puerto Rico had been greatly disputed with the numbers ranging from 64 to more than 4,000 deaths. However, officials in Puerto Rico updated the number of deaths to an estimated 2,975, a year after the storm. Some experts have said the actual number could be much higher.