Photos: Hurricane Ian leaves 'historic' damage in Florida

Hurricane Ian caused “historic” damage after making landfall in Florida, leaving more than 2.5 million without power.

In a briefing Thursday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis said, “The impacts of this storm are historic, and the damage that was done has been historic and this is just off initial assessments.”

"We've never seen storm surge of this magnitude, and it hit an area where there's a lot of people and a lot of those low-lying areas, and it's going to end up doing extensive damage to a lot of people's homes. So there's going to be a lot of work to do," DeSantis added, calling it "basically a 500-year flood event."

“You’re looking at a storm that has changed the character of a significant part of our state,” DeSantis said. “This is going to require years of effort to rebuild."

Two bridges connecting barrier islands near Fort Myers to the mainland, Sanibel Causeway and Pine Island, were declared “impassable” by DeSantis, who said they would require structural rebuilds. Images from Fort Myers Beach showed much of the nearby community leveled by the Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph.

The White House said Thursday morning that President Biden had been in communication with DeSantis about FEMA aiding hurricane victims, including approving a formal disaster declaration for the nine counties hit hardest by Ian. There was no official death count, with DeSantis saying there were two deaths possibly tied to the hurricane that had yet to be confirmed.

Downgraded to a tropical storm on Thursday, Ian is expected to make landfall in South Carolina on Fridayas a hurricane. The governors of South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have declared states of emergency.