CORRECTS DATELINE TO MATLACHA, FLA., INSTEAD OF SPRING HILL - Responders from the de Moya Group survey damage to the bridge leading to Pine Island, to start building temporary access to the island in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Matlacha, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The only bridge to the island is heavily damaged so it can only be reached by boat or air. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert, Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
As federal emergency management officials launched their largest ever search and rescue effort, the number of fatalities in Hurricane Ian’s wake climbed to 87 Sunday.
That number, tallied by NBC News, was expected to climb as additional deaths were investigated for possible ties to last week’s storm.
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The fatalities so far have included 83 in Florida, where Ian struck as a Category 4 hurricane Wednesday, and four in North Carolina, where the storm ended up after striking the coast of South Carolina Friday.
