TALLAHASSEE — A 96-year-old Charlotte County man discovered trapped underneath a automobile in excessive water is the oldest sufferer of Hurricane Ian’s lethal course by Southwest Florida, whose wrath is now revealed in a grim spreadsheet compiled by the state’s Medical Examiners’ Commission.
The 68-person listing of confirmed lifeless is definite to develop, as rescue and restoration efforts proceed in areas battered by the Category 4 storm and the flooding it spawned after it made landfall final Wednesday close to Cayo Costa on Florida’s Gulf coast.
But in spare, jarring element, the final moments of the lives of Floridians caught in one in all nation’s strongest storms is revealed within the medical experts’ report — although victims aren’t recognized by title.
“The decedent was outside her residence smoking a cigarette when a gust of wind from the hurricane blew her off the porch and she subsequently struck her head on a concrete step,” was the outline of how a 71-year-old Manatee County girl died Thursday.
“911 was called, but EMS (emergency services) was delayed due to weather,” the document concludes.
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Most of Hurricane Ian’s lifeless had been in Lee County
The largest share of Hurricane Ian’s lifeless — 45 individuals — listed within the medical experts’ report, had been in Lee County.
A 54-year-old Lee County man died trying to flee rising flood waters. “The decedent attempted to get out of a window and became trapped,” was how the report stated he was discovered Thursday, the day after the storm slammed into southwest Florida.
The emotional trauma of the storm additionally claimed not less than one sufferer, the report reveals.
“Decedent shot himself after seeing property damage due to hurricane,” was the abstract for a 73-year-old Lee County man who died Friday.
The 96-year-old discovered lifeless underneath a automobile in Charlotte County was amongst 5 Floridians age 90 or older killed within the storm.
The youngest storm sufferer was age 22, and recognized in news reviews as Tyler Watson of Lake Wales. Watson was a passenger in a pickup truck pushed by Hosie Session, Jr., 70, which collided with a downed tree in Polk County on Saturday morning. Session was hospitalized.
Thirty-eight of the victims had been age 65 or older. And reviews on those that died in Lee County confirmed simply how shortly Ian might flip lethal.
“Decedent was crushed by sliding glass door and pool cage,” was how a 65-year-old man was discovered there Friday.
A 73-year-old man found Thursday was “found dead by neighbor following hurricane; storm surge in area (was a) minimum of eight feet,” the report confirmed.
For many with well being issues, the storm proved an excessive amount of to beat.
A 70-year-old Lee County girl who had hypertension, recovering from a stroke and different medical points, was “found in flood waters up to chest.” Her demise Saturday was attributed to “delayed medical access due to hurricane.”
An 89-year-old man who died Friday in Lee County was described as “oxygen dependent.”
“Lost power and had generator failure,” the medical experts’ report concluded. “Decedent unable to use required equipment.”
USA Today Network-Florida reporter Douglas Soule contributed to this report. John Kennedy is a reporter within the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He will be reached at [email protected], or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport