Hurricane Ian: At least 101 people dead, becomes second-deadliest storm to hit US in 21st century

On Thursday, Hurricane Ian’s death toll passed the triple-digit mark. In the eight days since the hurricane made landfall in southwest Florida, the number of storm-related deaths has increased to at least 101.

The Florida Medical Examiners Commission reported that 98 of the total deaths occurred in Florida. Five people died in North Carolina from the hurricane, three in Cuba, and one in Virginia.

On September 28, Ian slammed Florida’s Gulf Coast after making landfall in Cuba the day before. The storm, which was moving northeast, crossed Florida, entered the Atlantic, made another landfall in South Carolina, and then continued to the mid-Atlantic states.

In the twenty-first century, Hurricane Katrina, which killed around 1,800 people in 2005, and Hurricane Ian are the two deadliest storms to have struck the continental United States. The Great Galveston Hurricane, which struck the US in 1900 and killed up to 8,000 people, was the deadliest hurricane to ever strike the country.