October 4, 2022 Hurricane Ian's aftermath in Florida

Residents will be allowed back on Sanibel Island on Wednesday to assess the damage to their property, but the island is still "extremely unsafe," according to Mayor Holly Smith.

Houses that might look fine from the outside may still prove to be too damaged to live in, she said.

Asked if she knows the state of her own home, Smith said she's only viewed it during a fly-over.

"My house has been breached. Do I know if it's habitable or not? I do not," she said.

The mayor added that it is her belief that despite the dangers on the island, it's important to get residents back.

"And then we hope they safely get off the island," she said, adding that at this stage "it is critically important that no one lives on that island." 

Smith said that the plan is to allow people back onto the island from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that President Biden will be briefed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis when he visits Fort Myers Wednesday to survey damage inflicted by Hurricane Ian. 

Jean-Pierre said the Republican governor will be joined by FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell and other state and local officials who will “provide the President with an operational briefing on the current response and recovery efforts.”

Jean-Pierre previewed the trip saying that Biden will travel to Fort Myers to “reaffirm his commitment to supporting the people of Florida as they recover and rebuild from the devastating storm.”

While there, the President will meet with small business owners and local residents impacted by Hurricane Ian and thank the federal, state and local officials who are working around the clock to provide life-saving assistance, restore power, distribute food and water, remove debris and begin rebuilding efforts.

This is not the first time the two have come together after tragedy struck in Florida. Biden and DeSantis also met after the Surfside condo accident in July 2021.

Officials from DeSoto County Schools in Florida anticipate the high school will remain closed for two months, following a devastating blow from Hurricane Ian.

In a Facebook video message on Monday, Bobby Bennett, superintendent of schools for DeSoto County said “our high school is going to be closed approximately two months and we're coming up with an emergency plan to make sure that we continue the education for our high school students.”

Bennett said the high school suffered extensive roof and water damage.

Other schools may be ready sooner, Bennett said, noting they had less damage than the high school. 

All DeSoto County schools are closed until further notice, due to damage sustained during the storm, the district said in a statement. DeSoto is one of five school districts across the state that have not re-opened since Hurricane Ian, the Florida Department of Education announced Tuesday.

“We will communicate a timeline for reopening schools as soon as we can safely welcome students and staff back into our building,” the district said.

DeSoto County is located north of Lee County in Southwest Florida.

Jayron Purvis, 22, died Friday as the remnants of Hurricane Ian passed through Robersonville, North Carolina.

Robersonville is Martin County and about 18 miles north of Greenville, North Carolina.

Purvis is one of four storm-related deaths in the state. 

According to a release from Gov. Roy Cooper’s office, three people died in separate vehicle-related incidents on Friday and one person died from carbon monoxide poisoning after running a generator in a closed garage.

Residents of Lee and Charlotte counties in Florida can receive temporary no-cost roof repairs if their roof was damaged by Hurricane Ian, according to a Charlotte County news release Tuesday.  

"A temporary blue covering with fiber-reinforced sheeting will be installed to help reduce further damage to property until permanent repairs can be made," the county said. 

"This program is for primary residences or a permanently occupied rental property with less than 50 percent structural damage," it added. 

Those with vacation rental homes, flat roofs, or roofs made of metal, clay, slate, or asbestos tile do not qualify for the program, according to the release.  

The roof repair program, known as Operation Blue Roof, is run through the US Army Corps of Engineers. Residents must sign up by Oct. 23 to qualify.  

The two counties have the highest death tolls of any other county, according to a CNN tally. Lee County has reported at least 55 deaths while Charlotte County has reported at least 24. And nearly 300,000 customers are still without power, according to PowerOutage.US.  

Approximately 3,000 nursing home residents from 25 nursing centers in Florida remain evacuated after Hurricane Ian tore through the state last week, according to the Florida Health Care Association. 

No deaths related to the hurricane have been reported to the association, spokesperson Kristen Knapp told CNN by email. 

About 8,000 nursing home residents were were previously evacuated as of last Friday. 

Right before losing phone connection, Fort Myers, Florida, resident Stan Pentz told his daughter he was going to drown.

Then the phone cut out, and he wasn't able to make contact with his family for 20 hours.

Pentz told CNN's Kate Bolduan that he knew he had to jump out of his condo and start swimming once the water rose to about two feet to the top of his roof.

"And then the wind shifted back, so it started, the surge was the other way so it was starting to get lower. So I don't know how many hours it was, but I was able to get down and get across, get to the building, get up to the second floor, found myself a spot ... where the wind wasn't and the rain, and I got into a corner and I stayed there all night," Pentz continued.

Pentz said thinking about his kids and grandchildren kept him going.

His daughter, Stephanie Downing, told CNN she thought about every possible scenario during the time that she couldn't make contact with her father.

Once they were reunited, she jokingly said, "I laid my head on his chest and I said, 'Hey Michael Phelps, you had a nice swim.'"

Pentz said he has lost everything to Hurricane Ian.  

"I lost everything that was in there. Everything that I've had for my life, all my life. ... Pictures are gone," he said.

Lee County, Florida, Sheriff Carmine Marceno said Tuesday that officials have identified 46 of the 55 people who died in the county as a result of Hurricane Ian. 

“We’ve had 55 total deaths in Lee County,” he said. “Out of those 55, nine bodies are still unidentified.”  

County officials are trying to "properly identify the deceased [and are] working with the family members," said Marceno during a storm briefing.  

"I'm proud to say that we had over 3,800 calls for service that were holding" or pending since the storm hit. "Welfare checks, calls to 911, all the stuff that we could not get to during these catastrophic events, and today, we are back to the normal flow of traffic," said the sheriff.  

Lee County is "not holding calls" thanks to the help from other "law enforcement that have come from everywhere to help us lead Lee County Sheriff's Office," said Marceno. 

"I want to thank the residents of Lee County and the great residents," said the sheriff. "We are coming back on our feet." 

"We took such a catastrophic hit, but everybody wants to help, [its] very heartwarming during these tragic events because in minutes and hours, a lot of people had their lives washed away," he said.

Elizabeth McGuire, 49, was found dead in her Cape Coral, Florida, home Friday after Hurricane Ian tore through the area, her son told CNN.

Police told her son that his mother had died in her bed holding her cellphone and it looked like she died instantly, Andrew Chedester said.

Her family had last spoken to McGuire on Wednesday and was having trouble reaching her since then, Chedester said.

A Cape Coral Police Department detective knocked on his door Friday and told him of his mother’s death, Chedester said. He had already received a call from his mother’s ex-boyfriend just before that, he said.

CNN also spoke to her mother Susan McGuire, who learned of her daughter’s death through Chedester. She said her daughter had been suffering from blood clots from deep-vein thrombosis and was on disability.

Susan McGuire was stranded on Pine Island and had limited cell service during and after the storm. She was evacuated to the mainland on Sunday by the US Coast Guard and she has an appointment Tuesday at the funeral home to make arrangements with her grandson.

“One hundred blizzards will not cost you what one hurricane will cost you,” said Susan McGuire, who had moved to the area from Maryland a few years ago. “My husband’s business whipped out, my daughter is dead. The destruction is massive. I never had a blizzard take anything away from me.”