Hurricane Ian updates: 21 deaths and climbing, 1.5 million without power
Updates from around the state for recovery efforts from Hurricane Ian.
Seminole County handing out sandbags Saturday | 9 p.m.
On Saturday, Oct. 1, the city of Altamonte Springs will be providing sandbags at Westmonte Recreation Center between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. while supplies last.
Each household is limited to 10 bags and shovels will not be provided. Staff will be on site for those that require assistance.
Other Seminole County locations will be open Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Old Geneva Fire Station, 320 W. State Road 46; Lake Monroe Wayside Park, 4150 Highway 17, Sanford; and the Oviedo Public Works building, 1655 Evans St., Oviedo.
Woman caught in raging Little Econ River surge flood by east Orlando | 9 p.m.
Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputies embarked on a rescue mission Thursday to save a woman who got caught in raging flood waters in east Orange County.
Five deputies were filmed on a video, posted by the department on social media, in 10-feet-deep water near the intersection of Dean Road and Lake Underhill Road. The deputies formed a human chain and used rope to reach the woman whose car was swept away by rushing water, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The woman and the deputies made it out safely. According to the department, the floodwater was caused by a surge of the Little Econlockhatchee River.
The mission was one of several that took place Thursday as rescue responders headed to areas around Central Florida most impacted by dangerous floods caused by Hurricane Ian, including the Arden Villas apartment complex, the Avante at Orlando nursing home off North Semoran Boulevard and two neighboring assisted living facilities by the University of Central Florida.
Amanda Rabines
Winter Park announces all lakes are closed until further notice | 8:50 p.m.
Due to high water levels, the city of Winter Park announced all its lakes will remain closed until it can safely assure wakes created by water activity no longer pose risks to surrounding properties and businesses. The city is asking people to refrain from boating, jet skiing and other motorized water activities.
Residents will be notified when lakes open again.
Lake Eola Park in Orlando and Cranes Roost Lake in Altamonte Springs are also indefinitely closed due to flooding.
Amanda Rabines
Mandatory evacuation for Osceola retirement community | 8:20 p.m.
Residents at Good Samaritan Society, a 55-plus community, will face a mandatory evacuation.
“We have been working with them on a voluntary basis and unfortunately that has not been working out,” Osceola County Commissioner Brandon Arrington said at a press conference Friday afternoon. “We will be able to enforce this evacuation with a second degree misdemeanor charge for anyone who refuses to evacuate.”
The community is expected to have continued flood water rise as Shingle Creek is located next to Good Samaritan Society and the water flows south from Orange County on its way through the chain of lakes to the Everglades, Arrington said.
“We continue to go in there and pull people out all through the night yesterday and all today,” Osceola County Sheriff Marcos R. Lopez said. “It’s just going to put the firemen and law enforcement officers at risk if we have to keep pulling out people at odd hours because there’s a lot of debris, there’s fire hydrants that are hard to see that could impact our boats and flip them over.”
Officers rescued around 50 people from Good Samaritan Society Thursday by 8 p.m., Lopez said. The officers went door to door and found one person who didn’t have a phone or electricity and another woman with her son who didn’t want to evacuate over fear of the waters, he added. The officers will continue to go door to door, Lopez said.
“There may be that there’s not that many people left there but the waters are going to keep rising,” Lopez said in Spanish.
Those who still need shelter will have to go to St. Cloud High School as it is the last general population shelter open in the county, Arrington said. The high school has around 100 evacuees, he said.
“If you live in the Reedy Creek area, the Boggy Creek area or the Shingle Creek area we are at the highest water levels we have seen in my lifetime and there’s a good chance that all of them can continue to increase another foot,” Arrington said. “Please take this opportunity to get out and find safe shelter in case the water rises overnight.”
Thursday saw over 300 people rescued in Osceola County not including those rescued by the Sheriff’s Office, Arrington said.
“No deaths in Osceola County [have been] associated with this storm,” Arrington said. “I think this is a great achievement and collaborative approach that we’ve taken that has really helped us get here today.”
Flood gates in the county are open to allow water to pass through as quickly as possible and relieve flooded streets and communities, Arrington said.
A road closure map is available at Osceola.org in order for residents and visitors to avoid driving or walking into flood waters, Arrington said.
To update transportation information, Arrington said Sun rail suffered major damage during the storm therefore service in Osceola County has been suspended for several weeks. Lynx will provide a bus-bridge service that will run on the same schedule as SunRail, he said. Lynx fixed route service will operate using a sunday/holiday schedule through the weekend, visit golynx.com for additional routes.
So far an estimated 5,600 residents are still without power in Osceola County, Arrington said and assistance is available for those with damage to their homes at disasterassistance.gov to apply and qualify for up to $37,900.
Osceola Ready is a long term recovery committee to support disasters within the county and is receiving monetary donations at osceolaready.org, said Bill Litton, Osceola County emergency management director.
“That’s the best way you can help our residents here,” Litton said. “That money will be distributed or hit the needs by the Ready board as they see fit in the next couple weeks.”
Volunteers are also needed and those interested in helping can sign up through Volunteer Florida, Litton said.
- Natalia Jaramillo
Schools announce openings after storm | 7:05 p.m.
The Lake County school district will reopen Monday, starting classes again after Ian shut down schools this week.The Osceola County school district will reopen Tuesday. It will not open Monday because too many roads remain impassable and unsafe for school buses, the district said.
In Lake, three portable classrooms — two at Windy Hill Middle School and one at East Ridge High School — were badly damaged, and a well pump was knocked out Seminole Springs Elementary School, said spokeswoman Sherri Owens, in an email.
But the pump should be replaced by Saturday, and normal school operations will be able to resume Monday, she said.
The Orange and Seminole school districts have not yet announced their plans for next week but may this evening or over the weekend. Orange County Public Schools told parents it hoped schools could reopen Monday but would provide an update after crews checked out campuses.
All the districts started assessing campuses for storm damage Friday morning, officials said, a process that could go into the weekend.
All the region’s public schools shut down because of the intense storm, as did nearly 50 of Florida’s 67 school districts, according to the Florida Department of Education.
Bitlo residents can pick up bottled water from county | 7 p.m.
Residents of Bithlo in east Orange County, unable to use their drinking wells since power went out about 9 p.m. Wednesday, were invited by county government to pick up bottled water at the community center Friday.
The notice was posted on the Facebook page of Orange County Commissioner Emily Bonilla, whose district includes the census-designated community about 20 miles east of Orlando.
She said the give-away also was announced over a loudspeaker on a vehicle which drove around the community, where many residents live in mobile home parks.
Tim McKinney, who heads United Global Outreach, a non-profit in Bithlo, hoped the word spread.
In a pre-storm letter to county leaders, McKinney said he was disappointed that Bithlo Park was not picked to be an emergency shelter, a role it has previously filled.
“With the high concentration of mobile homes and unsheltered homeless it seems like a no-brainer that the county should’ve prioritized having the Bithlo shelter online for this storm,” he wrote.
Census figures show about 20% of the 9,800 residents live in poverty.
According to an “outage map” on Duke Energy’s website, 1,253 customers in the area were without electricity Friday night and the utility expects power to be restored no later than 11:59 p.m. Sunday.
“With no power, there is no water if someone is on a well,” McKinney said.
UCF, other universities will open Monday | 1:51 p.m. Friday
The University of Central Florida will reopen Monday as will Florida State University, the University of South Florida, Florida A&M University, and Florida Polytechnic State University.
The University of Florida will reopen Saturday and the University of North Florida on Sunday. Florida Atlantic University was to reopen Friday.
Nine of Florida’s 12 state universities shut down as Hurricane Ian approached the state.
UCF, like other universities, said it will be understanding of students and staff, given the devastation wrought by the storm.
“As we reopen, faculty and supervisors are asked to demonstrate empathy and provide flexibility to students and employees given Hurricane Ian’s catastrophic impact,” read a university message.
Power still out for nearly 1.9 million customers | 12:35 p.m. Friday
Nearly 1.9 million customers in the state remain without power as of 12:30 p.m. Friday, according to poweroutage.us.
More than 2.6 million had been out on Thursday with the hardest hit counties in Southwest Florida still reeling.
In Central Florida, that total across Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Volusia, Polk and Brevard counties is around 600,000 out of more than 2.2 million customers.
Gov. Ron DeSantis this morning said the hardest hit counties in Southwest Florida include Hardee County with 99% without power, Charlotte and Lee at 85%, DeSoto at 80%, Sarasota, Collier and Manatee at about 50% and Hillsborough and Pinellas less than 20% without power
“These crews have been on the ground since it was safe to do so and they are working 24/7 to be able to restore power all throughout the state of Florida and that’s over 42,000 linemen and associated personnel that are on the ground,” he said.
Richard Tribou
Cleaning up debris in Central Florida | 11:24 a.m.
Debris pick-up in Winter Park is expected to begin Wednesday and could last weeks, according to a news release.
To be picked up by Waste Pro, yard debris must be bundled or tied and not be more than three cubic yards, the release states.
Building materials like fencing, or large limbs that don’t fit in bags, must be piled separately at the curb.
Ryan Gillespie
Volusia County man dies from floodwater in home | 10:14 a.m.
A New Smyrna Beach-area man died on Thursday night after he fell and was unable to escape rising floodwaters in his home, according to a press release from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded to a home on Lake Drive around 10:30 p.m. in a high-water vehicle after a rescue request from the 67-year-old victim and his wife, deputies said.
“Before the rescue crew arrived, the victim fell inside the home and could not get up before the water level rose over him,” the press release stated.
Rescuers were not able to revive the victim and he was pronounced deceased on the scene.
His wife and two dogs were taken to a storm shelter with a third dog from a neighboring house rescued and taken to an animal shelter, deputies said.
Deputies said it was the second death related to what was at the time Tropical Storm Ian as it passed through Central Florida. The first was a 72-year-old Deltona man who had gone outside during the storm to drain his pool.
Richard Tribou
21 deaths and climbing in the state | 10:03 a.m. Friday
The state is officially considering 21 deaths across the state that could be blamed on Hurricane Ian, according to Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie.
Speaking at a Friday morning press conference in Tallahassee, he said one confirmed death was in Polk County while 12 unconfirmed deaths were in Charlotte County and eight unconfirmed deaths in Collier County.
He also said more were coming from a situation in Lee County.
“The water up over the rooftop and we had a Coast Guard rescue swimmer swim down into it and he could identity what appeared to be human remains,” he said. “We want to be transparent, but we just don’t know that number.”
Other deaths in the state including vehicle deaths in Lake and Putnam County and a Volusia County man who died when trying to drain his pool are also not included in the official tally.
“People die in disasters that have nothing to do with a disaster,” he said. “The medical examiner is the one that makes that determination. They are the lead agency at the local level to determine when they investigate that this is either disaster-related or not disaster-related. If it is determined to be disaster-related. — you’ve heard the governor I talked about this now for about three or four days in a row — it is a direct death. In other words, storm surge, rising water, things of that nature, or indirect, the stuff that led up to it after the fact.”
So far emergency responders have performed more than 700 rescues, he said.
“There are over 1,000 dedicated rescue personnel who are going up and down the coastline,” DeSantis said, noting they will be doing more inland searches in Lee, Charlotte, DeSoto and Hardee counties.
“You see the really troubling images of washed-out homes on the Fort Myers beach and that really is ground zero and obviously very important, but this was such a big storm that there are effects far inland and these rescue personnel are sensitive to that and they’re going to be helping.”
Richard Tribou
No water in Lee County | 9:50 a.m.
DeSantis said Lee County, which was ground zero for Hurricane Ian’s landfall, had a water main break for the county’s water utility.
“That means that the county does not have water at this point and need that to be able to function in society,” he said.
FEMA was able to dispatch the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the area to assess the situation with the Florida National Guard standing by to help if need be, DeSantis said.
“At the end of the day that is something that will be very, very critical to be able to get that back. It may require more of a rebuild. Maybe it will require some more short-term remediation. That’s clearly a top priority,” he said.
Richard Tribou
Central Florida schools update | 9:26 a.m. Friday
Central Florida school districts started assessing campuses for storm damage Friday morning, officials said, a process that could go into the weekend.
Orange County Public Schools told parents in a recorded message late Thursday that the district hoped to open schools Monday but would provide an update after crews checked out campuses.
In Osceola County, the superintendent will decide when schools reopen after crews assess for damage, flooding and power, said district spokeswoman Dana Schafer, in an email Friday.
Officials in Orange as well as Lake, Osceola and Seminole counties said late Thursday building crews had not yet been to most campuses but would start that work Friday morning.
All the region’s public schools shut down this week because of Hurricane Ian, as did nearly 50 of Florida’s 67 school districts, according to the Florida Department of Education.
Leslie Postal
Gov. DeSantis to update rescue efforts | 9:04 a.m. Friday
Gov. Ron DeSantis will give an update on the efforts made in the wake of Hurricane Ian’s devastation in Florida from the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee on Friday morning with the press conference that began after 9 a.m. He’s slated to give another press conference from Fort Myers at 12:30 p.m.
In attendance this morning are Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie, the Florida National Guard’s Major General James O. Eifert and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
The press conference will be streamed at thefloridachannel.org.
Richard Tribou
Central Florida counties eligible for FEMA assistance | 8:59 a.m. Friday
Orange, Osceola, Polk and Seminole counties are now eligible for FEMA assistance after Hurricane Ian.
Individuals and households in Orange, Osceola, Polk and Seminole counties can apply for FEMA Individual Assistance, which may include temporary housing assistance, basic home repairs and certain other uninsured disaster-related needs.
These counties join Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota counties, which were previously approved for Individual Assistance.
Survivors can apply for disaster assistance at disasterassistance.gov, by calling 800-621-3362 from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Time, or by using the FEMA mobile app. If you use a relay service such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA the number for that service.
For an accessible video on how to apply for assistance go to, youtube.com/watch?v=WZGpWI2RCNw.
For information on Florida’s recovery from Hurricane Ian, visit fema.gov/disaster/hurricane-ian. Follow FEMA on Twitter at FEMA Region 4 (@femaregion4) / Twitter and at facebook.com/fema.
Jeffrey Schweers
Power outages still more than 2 million | 7:49 a.m. Friday
More than 2 million homes and businesses in the state remain without power as of 7:30 a.m. Friday, according to poweroutage.us.
More than 2.6 million had been out on Thursday with the hardest hit counties in Southwest Florida still reeling.
“Lee and Charlotte are basically off the grid at this point,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said noting power restoration will take time. “Charlotte and Lee reconnects are really going to likely have to be rebuilding of that infrastructure.”
The state has 42,000 linemen responding to the power outages.
Richard Tribou
