We have all seen the horrific footage of what Hurricane Ian did to Florida. The number of fatalities have been estimated, as is customary in the hours immediately following a disaster.
The problem is, there is a wild variance. First it started out with a handful, then it went to a few dozen and now it’s stated that there are possibly hundreds of fatalities, along with thousands more Floridians waiting to be rescued.
That is alarming.
Hundreds of dead bodies found in Lee County, Florida. DeSantis stands by decision to wait until day before landfall to order evacuations in Lee County. H/t @SarahBurris @Acosta pic.twitter.com/KHz9cLW5aK
— Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) October 2, 2022
As people across Florida struggled on Thursday morning to understand the scale of the damage from Hurricane Ian, the sheriff of Lee County, Carmine Marceno, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that hundreds of people might have died in his county — an estimate that was quickly shared on social media and in some news reports.
“While I don’t have the confirmed numbers, I definitely know the fatalities are in the hundreds,” the sheriff said. “There are thousands of people that are waiting to be rescued and, again, cannot give a true assessment until we’re actually on the scene, assessing each scene, and we can’t access people, that’s the problem.”
Death tolls and similar information in the immediate hours after a disaster are often unreliable, especially when official assessments are hindered by telecommunications and infrastructure issues, as they are across southwest Florida on Thursday.
About an hour after Sheriff Marceno appeared on ABC, he spoke more cautiously about the possible death toll in an interview with CNN.
CNN is reporting 74 confirmed deaths in Florida and four in North Carolina. Those numbers are going to rise substantially.
Never have I seen a political party so adept at killing their own voters. And said voters come back begging for more abuse.
— InfamousGA6 (@infamous_ga6) October 2, 2022
That’s the bottom line. In 36 days there will be a chance to make changes. I hope Florida decides to help itself.
Imagine being stupid enough to believe lies right up until when they kill you.
Florida Republicans.
Imagine being craven enough to tell lies knowing that if believed, they’ll kill people, and then letting it happen.
Florida Republicans.
Anybody old enough to remember Hurricane Katrina should not be even slightly surprised by this development.
I was listening to NPR this a.m. and from what folks who stayed and survived in the affected county were saying, it is the county that gives the mandatory evac order and this county gave it too late and they gave it too late due to the hurricane, doing what hurricanes do, taking a turn and heading their way.
Hurricanes often are wayward, take unexpected turns,etc. Quite frankly, if you were living on the west coast of FL you should have skedaddled when the damned thing entered the gulf. Predicting where a hurricane will make landfall is a guessing game at best. I will say what I always do with regard to tropical weather systems: get the hell out before evac orders come through.
The number of deaths will take time to finalize, probably months.
It was predicted to run along the west coast, even before it got there. That should have been enough, knowing that they can’t tell far in advance what’s going to happen.
The official toll from Katrina is probably a thousand or so too low.
Imagine stupid to believe Daniel Uhlfelder admitted chief tormentor of Ron DeSantis.
“WHILE I DON’T HAVE THE CONFIRMED NUMBERS, I DEFINITELY KNOW THE FATALITIES ARE IN THE HUNDREDS,” THE SHERIFF SAID. “THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE THAT ARE WAITING TO BE RESCUED AND,AGAIN, CANNOT GIVE A TRUE ASSESSMENT UNTIL WE’RE ACTUALLY ON THE SCENE, ASSESSING EACH SCENE, AND WE CAN’T ACCESS PEOPLE, THAT’S THE PROBLEM.”
And you expect the evacuation of millions of people? No governor can do that. Like the sheriff said cannot give a true assessment until we’re actually on the scene. Daniel Uhlfelder is a liar.
Shut the fuck up fool