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Saturday promised to reveal Hurricane Ian's true impact in South Carolina after the storm's second landfall, while rescuers continued to comb hard-hit Florida, where record river flooding was expected.
At least 73 people have died in the storm in Florida and four in North Carolina, according to state officials and an NBC News count.
Ian made landfall in South Carolina as a Category 1 storm on Friday afternoon and has since been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone.
The National Hurricane Center said in an advisory Saturday that the storm would continue to weaken near the border of North Carolina and Virginia throughout the day, adding that it would weaken even more through Sunday. Still, officials have warned that Ian and its aftermath pose a grave danger, with warnings of flash flooding across parts of both states.
And Ian is expected to produce between 3 to 6 inches of rainfall on Saturday across parts of North Carolina and West Virginia.
More than 1.3 million customers in Florida were without power early Saturday, three days after Ian slammed into the state. In South Carolina, more than 63,000 homes and businesses were without power after the hurricane hit. Throughout the day, power came back slowly in these states as rescue efforts continued in Ian's wake.
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Bidens to visit Puerto Rico, Florida
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel next week to areas hit hard by Hurricane Ian, the White House announced late Saturday.
The Bidens will visit Puerto Rico on Monday, and Florida on Wednesday.
No further details were announced, but the president mentioned his concern for the regions hit by Hurricanes Irma and Ian on Saturday night at a Congressional Black Caucus awards dinner.
"Our hearts ... are heavy, the devastating hurricanes, storms in Puerto Rico, Florida, and South Carolina. And we owe Puerto Rico a hell of a lot more than they’ve already gotten," Biden said.
Government will cover purchase of power generators for some
Residents of federal disaster areas who purchased or rented power generators to keep medical devices operating might be able to get reimbursement from the federal government.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said generators purchased by residents who lost power after Hurricane Ian struck areas covered by President Joe Biden's major disaster declaration can be covered by tax dollars.
Qualifications for reimbursement include a medical need: The resident must provide written proof that a generator is needed to power a vital medical device or refrigerator.
The generator must be for a home that is a claimant's primary residence, and one where power was disrupted as a result of the storm. Claimant's have to be in the United States legally.
The claimant must live in an area covered by Biden's major disaster declaration Friday. Those areas for now only cover Florida counties hard hit by Ian: Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas, and Sarasota.
The White House said additional areas could be designated as damage assessment is completed.
On Saturday, night 1,007,053 utility customers in Florida were in the dark, according to PowerOutage.us. Hurricane Ian struck the state Thursday.
Outages continue to challenge Florida, Carolinas, Virginia
The remnants of Ian have moved more than three states away, but Florida continued to struggle with power outages as more than a million utility customers remained without power Saturday evening.
The power monitoring site PowerOutage.us reported that 1,079,239 customers were in the dark after sunset in Florida. That's an improvement from the nearly 2 million residents without power at sunrise, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Speaking at a news conference Saturday, DeSantis said utilities were on the case.
"They are working 24/7 to be able to restore power all throughout the state of Florida," he said. "That's 42,000 linemen and associated personnel."
In South Carolina, 6,411 were without power Saturday night, according to PowerOutage.us. In North Carolina, that figure was 56,584.
Virginia, where the former hurricane was lurking as its core moved over West Virginia, had 15,949 without electricity Saturday.
Post-tropical cyclone Ian hasn't impacted the outage figures for West Virginia yet. Forecasters said the state could be in for flash flooding and small stream flooding overnight.
Before and after photos capture scope of Hurricane Ian’s destruction in Florida
Florida sheriff warns of possible flooding from levee breach in Sarasota County
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office in Florida is warning residents of a potential levee breach that could cause flooding for about 70 homes.
A notification was sent out around 3 a.m. Saturday saying that homes near the Hidden River levee could be affected.
‘The compromise of this levee appears that it WILL ONLY IMPACT HOMES ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE HIDDEN RIVER COMMUNITY,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a Facebook post.”This levee compromise SHOULD NOT impact any other areas in Sarasota County including Venice or North Port.”
Deputies are working with the fire department on going door-to-door to alert residents. The sheriff’s office encouraged the community to consider evacuating.
Read the full story here.
Search and rescue teams comb through Hurricane Ian's wreckage
Gov. Roy Cooper mourns deaths in North Carolina
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Saturday mourned the deaths of four people who died in his state from storm-related incidents.
“The storm has passed, but many hazards remain with downed trees, downed power lines and power outages,” Cooper said in a statement. “We mourn with the families of those who have died and urge everyone to be cautious while cleaning up to avoid more deaths or injuries.”
The victims include a 25-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman who died in car accidents, a 22-year-old man who drowned when his truck submerged in a flooded swamp and a 65-year-old man who suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator running in a closed garage, according to the statement.
Charleston, South Carolina, dodges a big bullet named Ian
CHARLESTON, S.C. — This historic city of graceful mansions and Spanish moss-draped trees dodged the devastation Saturday that Hurricane Ian had visited on Florida. But Charleston was left with yet another reminder of how vulnerable it remains to powerful storms.
The damage to Charleston, a city below sea level with a long history of flooding, appeared minimal the day after Ian barreled into South Carolina as a Category 1 storm.
“People need to realize that Charleston really was largely spared by just 20 or 25 miles,” said state Sen. George “Chip” Campsen, a Republican who represents the area and currently lives on Isle of Palms, a small barrier island just outside Charleston.
Branches and leaves littered the ground, a few trees were down and walls of sandbags were still standing watch by some store entryways. But the skies were blue, and tourists, who had been trapped in their hotels, emerged to find a city mostly unscathed, although here and there some of the iconic Spanish moss had been sloughed-off the trees onto the street.
Read the full story here.
At least 1,100 rescues in Florida so far, Desantis says
At least 1,100 rescues have been made in Florida since Ian made landfall in the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a news conference on Saturday.
"There's been a great outpouring of support and I've seen a lot of resilience in this community of people that want to pick themselves up and they want to get their communities back on their feet," DeSantis told reporters. "We'll be here and we'll be helping every step of the way."
Power is slowly being restored in southern states
Power is coming back slowly to homes and businesses in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and southern Virginia, according to data from poweroutage.us.
In Florida, 1,195,366 customers are currently without power, down from nearly 1.3 million Saturday morning. In South Carolina and North Carolina, 24,365 and 198,672 customers are without power, respectively, down from 62,023 and 325,015.
In southern Virginia, 56,081 customers are still without power, down almost by half from 101,587 this morning.