Florida emergency director: at least 1, possibly 21 deaths after Hurricane Ian

DIRECTOR of the Florida Division of Emergency Management in the US, Kevin Guthrie, said Hurricane Ian has caused one confirmed death and 20 unconfirmed deaths. He said search and rescue efforts are still under way.

Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida on Wednesday afternoon with winds as high as 155 mph, causing major flooding, power outages and structural damage.

On Thursday morning, Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm, but later on, became a category one hurricane again.

In its 8am update on Friday, the US National Weather Center said, "The centre of Hurricane Ian was located near latitude 31.4 north, longitude 79.1 west.

"Ian is moving toward the north near nine mph.

"Ian will approach and reach the coast of South Carolina today, and then move farther inland across eastern South Carolina and central North Carolina tonight and Saturday."

It said maximum sustained winds were near 85 mph.

At a press conference on Friday morning, Guthrie told reporters there had been one confirmed death in Polk County, 12 unconfirmed deaths in Charlotte county and eight unconfirmed deaths in Collier county.

He said "hasty" search and rescue efforts were under way in Lee county.