Ian Aftermath: DeSantis Calls Tropical Storm Historic, Says Report of Hundreds of Deaths Not Confirmed

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the damage from Tropical Storm Ian “historic,” but stressed that government officials are not able to confirm “hundreds” of fatalities that were mentioned by a county sheriff earlier in the morning.

“We’ve never seen a flood event like this,” DeSantis said Thursday.

“The amount of water that’s been rising and will likely continue to rise today – even as the storm is passing – is basically a 500-year event,” DeSantis added during a press conference.

Despite losing strength overland, Ian is still a major storm that has sustained winds of 90 mph. The storm weakened by late Wednesday to a Category 1 storm with 90 mph winds and continues its crawl across the state, but surges as high as 6 feet were reported early Thursday.