US government vows major aid for Hurricane Ian victims as rescues continue

Emergency workers walk past the remains of a clothing store, blown out by Hurricane Ian, in the Times Square area near the Lynn Hall Pier on the island of Fort Myers Beach, Fla., Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, as a Category 4 hurricane on the southwest coast of Florida. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)

US officials have pledged to provide an unprecedented amount of federal disaster aid as crews scrambled to rescue people still trapped by floodwaters from Hurricane Ian.

Days after Ian tore through central Florida, carving a deadly path of destruction into the Carolinas, water levels continued to rise in some flooded areas, inundating homes and streets that were passable just a day or two earlier.