Florida death toll rises to 47 amid struggle to recover from Hurricane Ian

The bridge between Fort Myers and Pine Island in Florida was badly damaged by Hurricane Ian (Gerald Herbert/AP)

Rescuers evacuated stunned survivors from a large barrier island cut off by Hurricane Ian and Florida’s death toll climbed sharply, as hundreds of thousands of people were still sweltering without power days after the monster storm rampaged from the state’s south-western coast up to the Carolinas.

Florida, with nearly four dozen reported dead, was hit hardest by the Category 4 hurricane, one of the strongest to make landfall in the United States.