DEVASTATION

Florida’s Hurricane Ian Death Toll Nears 50 as Elon Musk Swoops In to Help Restore Comms

The damage included the destruction of the sole bridge that linked the state’s Pine Island to the mainland.

Florida’s death toll from Hurricane Ian reached 47 on Sunday as the state scrambled to clean up the wreckage left by the massive storm. Officials across the western coast worked through the weekend to help rescue victims whose homes were severely impacted, with the sole bridge linking Pine Island to the Gulf Coast fully destroyed. “The water just kept pounding the house and we watched, boats, houses—we watched everything just go flying by,” Pine Island resident Joe Conforti told the Associated Press. The storm’s total death count is 54, with four other victims in North Carolina and three in Cuba. Gov. Ron DeSantis said Elon Musk, through his SpaceX Starlink satellites, was working with the state to help restore communication lines damaged by the storm, and President Joe Biden said he and the First Lady would travel to the state on Wednesday.