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In Florida, at least 119 people died in Hurricane Ian. Most of those deaths came from drowning in a storm surge as high as 18 feet in some areas.
The largest number of fatalities was in Lee County, home to three islands that saw the greatest impact from the storm. But it was also a county that delayed ordering residents to evacuate for more than a day, despite warnings from meteorologists that it would see “life-threatening” flooding.
Medical examiners are still certifying storm-related deaths. But it’s already clear Ian is the deadliest storm to hit Florida since the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. Brian Wolshon, a civil engineering professor at Louisiana State University who studies evacuations says, “Obviously, if there’s a death, there’s a failure someplace. But it’s hard to assign where that failure is in the system.”
In a hurricane, local emergency managers in Florida are the officials who order evacuations. They rely on information from meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center, who hold calls with local officials to explain forecasts, advisories and key messages for the public.
Wolshon says in a disaster with so many deaths, a post-storm analysis will examine why so many people failed to evacuate. “We’re going to look at that and say, ‘Where in that chain could it have been communicated earlier, or better, or more effective?'”
Many are looking at a decision by officials in Lee County to delay ordering a mandatory evacuation until Tuesday, September 27, the day before the hurricane made landfall. That was more than a day after the National Hurricane Center warned a “life-threatening” storm surge up to 7 feet could hit the county.
