At least 80 people have died in Florida from Hurricane Ian – most in Lee County. The behavior of the authorities raises questions.
A few days after Hurricane Ian swept across southwest Florida, health economist and epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding accused the state and its governor Ron DeSantis of official failure. Florida authorities failed to warn and evacuate residents in Lee County, which was particularly hard hit by the storm, before it was too late, Feigl-Ding wrote on Twitter. “This failure to act quickly is the same reason Florida has high excess mortality in the pandemic.”
The behavior of the authorities in Lee County, which includes the city of Fort Myers, had previously raised increasing questions. The “New York Times” reported on Friday about a delay in the evacuation of the district. While authorities along large parts of the coast responded last Monday with evacuation calls, decision-makers in Lee County held back and awaited further forecasts. The authorities only ordered the evacuation of the most affected areas on Tuesday morning.
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According to the New York Times, this delay could have led to the high death toll in Lee County. At least 42 people were killed in the district where “Ian” made landfall with winds of up to 150 miles per hour, Sheriff Carmine Marceno said on Sunday. According to local authorities, at least 80 fatalities have been reported so far.