The Florida Health Department has reported 65 confirmed cases of Vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacteria, and 11 deaths so far this year as of Friday.
While officials are still assessing the damage, the economic toll of Hurricane Ian is already staggering.
First responders are making special preparations in Cumberland County and Fayetteville ahead of the severe weather coming Friday.
Central North Carolina residents are struggling to make contact with Ian victims and worry how loved ones are surviving in current conditions.
Images from the Fort Myers area showed homes ripped from their slabs and deposited among shredded wreckage
The causeway was the Sanibel and Captiva islands' only connection to Florida's mainland.