By Jordan Hum | Copy Editor

   Hurricane Ian has swept through the south East Coast since making landfall in Fort Meyers, Florida as a Category Four Hurricane on Sept. 28. The storm follows Hurricane Fiona, a Category Four hurricane that traveled from Puerto Rico up to eastern Canada from Sept.18-24.

   The death toll of Hurricane Ian reached 117 in Florida in addition to five additional deaths in North Carolina and one in Virginia as of Oct. 7. The deaths stretch across multiple Florida counties, including 53 in Lee County and another 24 in Charlotte County. 

   Damages caused by the hurricane could potentially reach up to $75 billion according to Enki Research, a group that studies the financial impact of storms.

   “Hurricane Ian will be among the 10 costliest storms in U.S. history,” Enki Research told ABC News. “it may end up among the five costliest [storms] after the damage is fully assessed.”

   Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s relief efforts include a fuel tax holiday and the prompting of debris removal when safe. 

   In addition, Flgov.com reported that “There are currently 42,000 linemen responding to the more than 840,000 reported power outages. They have already restored power to more than 1.8 million accounts across the state.”

   Winds reached 150 mph during the first U.S. landfall according to the National Hurricane Center. On Sept. 28, Fox Weather reported that 10 inches of rain spanned across 3,500 square miles of Florida, and the National Hurricane Center estimated that water levels reached a little over seven feet.   

   “[Hurricane] Ian ranks as the third-highest coverage of 10-plus inches of rain in a 24-hour period from a tropical system since 2005,” according to Fox Weather. 

   The hurricane started as a tropical disturbance in the east Caribbean but became a hurricane when it made landfall on the west tip of Cuba on Sept. 27. As Ian exited Cuba, it gained strength over the Gulf of Mexico before hitting Florida where it did the bulk of its damage and then weakened across the peninsula before it made final landfall in South Carolina on Sept. 30.

   Hurricane Ian followed shortly after Hurricane Fiona was downgraded to a tropical storm on Sept. 23 after moving up the Atlantic coast from Puerto Rico to Canada. 

   According to the Puerto Rico emergency department, Hurricane Fiona’s death toll reached at least 25, including three deaths in Canada. 

   Although only Category One, the storm left 270,000 without electricity and 100,000 without water service in Puerto Rico.

   “Fiona is the most significant rain and wind event Nova Scotia has seen in close to 20 years,” said John Lohr, Minister of the Emergency Management Office.

   President Joseph Biden has offered his support to Puerto Rico, stating, “This year to date, Puerto Rico has received $4 million to help make the power grid more resilient — that number is going to go up.”