🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
A man in Deltona, Florida died Thursday morning after going outside to drain his pool during storm conditions, in what appears to be the first reported death during Hurricane Ian.
Sheriff's deputies responded to a home in Deltona around 1 a.m. after a woman reported her 72-year-old husband disappeared after going outside to drain their pool during the storm.
"While searching for him, deputies found his flashlight, then spotted the victim unresponsive in a canal behind the home," the Volusia County Sheriff's Office wrote in a news release.
Deputies attempted to perform CPR on the man before paramedics arrived, but he was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
"The initial investigation indicates the victim was using a hose to drain the pool down a hill and into a 30-foot-wide canal, where a steep decline into the water was extremely soft and slippery due to the heavy rain," the sheriff's office stated.
Newsweek reached out to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office for comment.
The report of the man's death comes after Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said Thursday morning that the death toll from the hurricane is "in the hundreds."
Videos of the Category 4 hurricane posted on Wednesday afternoon showed the storm impacting Florida as it made landfall. In Fort Myers, coastal flooding rose to roughly six feet above the ground and flood waters could be seen rushing through roadways.
According to the website poweroutage.us, 2.6 million residences have lost power in the wake of the storm, a major increase from the number of households that were without electricity as of Wednesday afternoon. The power outages could last for days.
Eric Silagy, the president and CEO of Florida Power and Light (FPL), told CNN Wednesday that the storm would cause "significant damage."
"Ian is going to be a life-changing event," Silagy said. "This is a very powerful, catastrophic storm that is going to do significant damage," she added.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety warned motorists Thursday morning to stay off the road in areas that have been hit by the storm.
"If you're in an area impacted by #Ian, please stay off the roads unless it is absolutely necessary. Do not drive through flooding, assume all downed power lines are live, and treat intersections without power as four-way stops," the department tweeted.
About the writer
Xander Landen is a Newsweek weekend reporter. His focus is often U.S. politics, but he frequently covers other issues including ... Read more