“We’ve never seen a flood event like this,” DeSantis said. “We’ve never seen a storm surge of this magnitude.”

By Thursday afternoon, more than 500 people had been rescued from floodwaters in southwest Florida, but emergency crews were still struggling to reach some of the hit-hardest areas.

As first responders assessed the damage, more than 2.6 million people were still without power, roads had turned into rivers filled with upturned cars, and large sections of the Sanibel Causeway, which connects the Sanibel Islands to the mainland, collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico.

The first confirmed fatality was a 72-year-old man from Deltona, Florida, who died while attempting to drain his pool into a nine-metre-wide canal, when he slipped down the hill, fell into the water and drowned.

In Fort Myers, where storm surges of up to 3.6 metres pummeled the popular beachside destination, homes had been completely uprooted and strewn into the Gulf Coast, creating a swamp of debris and disaster.

“I got an aerial tour of Fort Myers beach,” Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat and former emergency management director said on Twitter. “Most of it will need to be completely rebuilt.”

In the Orlando area, Orange County firefighters used boats to reach people in a flooded neighbourhood. A photo the department posted on Twitter showed one firefighter carrying someone in his arms through knee-deep water. At an area nursing home, patients were carried on stretchers across floodwaters to a waiting bus.

And in Port Charlotte, where a hospital was flooded when ferocious winds tore apart the roof of its intensive care unit, patients were being evacuated throughout the day while staff members attempted to mop up the mess.

A spokesperson for the sheriff’s department confirmed multiple deaths but did not have a firm figure. Authorities in Sarasota County were investigating two possible storm-related deaths, a sheriff’s spokesperson said.

DeSantis said: “we absolutely expect to have mortalities from this hurricane; I’d just caution people there’s a process where that is confirmed.”

Noting that disaster assistance was available, he added: “It’s too early to know exactly what the needs of everybody is going to be, but we obviously anticipate some Floridians may end up being displaced from their homes.”

Officials are bracing for even more flooding as the storm moves north over the Atlantic towards South Carolina, where it is poised to make landfall on Friday.

The US National Hurricane Centre said the storm’s maximum sustained winds increased on Thursday (Friday AEST) to 120km/h as it centred itself about 390 kilometres south of Charleston, South Carolina, and moved northeast at 17 km/h.

On Thursday afternoon, a steady stream of vehicles were heading out of Charleston on Interstate 26 with just a few heading into the city, and National Guard troops are being positioned to help with the aftermath.

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South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster issued no evacuations, but he said that doesn’t mean the storm isn’t dangerous. “We know we can handle this if we use our heads and follow the rules,” McMaster said.

Biden said he would visit Florida and meet with Republican Governor Ron DeSantis when “conditions allow”.

While the president has had his share of political battles with DeSantis- who this month sent migrants to Martha’s Vineyard to goad the President over border security - he said the Florida governor was “extremely happy” with the federal response.

“This is not about anything having to do with our disagreements politically. This is about saving people’s lives, homes and businesses,” Biden said.

He also urged those affected by Ian to take seriously the warnings from local officials to stay safe and remain indoors and “don’t go outside unless you have to.”

“The danger is real, to state the obvious. Please obey all warnings and direction from emergency officials.”

Declaring a disaster has allowed Biden to free up additional federal assistance to state and local governments and individuals, but more counties are likely to be added to the disaster declaration as the extent of the damage becomes clearer.

Asked if his administration would need additional money from Congress to respond to the storm, Biden said, “we may”.

with AP

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