Oct. 18 (UPI) — More than 20 days after Hurricane Ian thrashed the southeastern United States, three people from Florida’s hard-hit Lee County were still missing Tuesday night, authorities said.
Lee County’s Sheriff’s Office said in a Hurricane Ian update that officers were still searching for Gary Luke of North Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach residents James Hurst and Ivonka Knes.
The three have been missing since Hurricane Ian made landfall Sept. 28 on Florida’s west coast as a powerful Category 4 storm with wind speeds in excess of 150 mph. Homes were destroyed and streets were flooded as Ian left a path of destruction throughout the state.
Lee County suffered the highest death toll from the storm with 61 lives lost, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday. That is an increase of seven deaths since Friday. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said at least 109 people in the state died in the hurricane.
An additional five people were killed by the storm in North Carolina, the state’s governor, Roy Cooper, said.
Between Sept. 27 and Tuesday, Lee County law enforcement has responded to 48,666 well-being checks, the sheriff’s office said.
Police have also made 34 arrests in the county for looting, a crime which Sheriff Carmine Marceno had repeatedly warned, before and after the storm, would be met with a strong response.