International Desk: The death toll from Hurricane Ian in the southeastern United States has raised to 80 as The entire state has been devastated by the storm, reports Al Jazeera.

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At least 85 storm-related deaths have been confirmed since Ian made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday as wind gusts were 249 kilometres per hour.

The sheriff’s office in coastal Lee County said it counted 42 deaths, with 39 deaths reported by officials in neighbouring counties.

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Cecil Pendergrass, chairman of the county’s board of commissioners, said that there has been given evacuation orders as the hurricane’s direction became clear. Even then, some people chose to ride out the storm.

Deanne Criswell, the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, said the federal government has planned to allot a huge amount of aid, focusing on Florida first. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are due to travel to the state on Wednesday.

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Authorities in North Carolina said at least four people had been killed there. No deaths were immediately reported in South Carolina, where Ian made another US landfall on Friday.

The storm caused severe power outages across Florida. More than 1.6 lakh customers are currently without power in various districts of the state.

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According to the state weather bureau, all cities in the state were inundated with floodwaters and flooding on such a large scale has not been seen in Florida before.

Sun News/MR

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