As of Saturday evening, more than 30 people have been reportedly confirmed dead in the United States due to Hurricane Ian, including 28 in the southeasternmost state of Florida.

Tallies from U.S. news outlets are much higher, with the count of NBC News reaching 77 and CNN reporting 70.

No official death count has been released so far from state or federal officials.

As of Saturday, more than 1,000 people had been rescued from flooded areas along Florida's southwestern coast alone, Daniel Hokanson, a four-star general and head of the National Guard, told reporters.

Ian brought catastrophic storm surges, heavy rains and destructive winds, and dangerous flooding to both Florida's coast and inland areas.

As the full extent of devastation came into clearer focus three days after Ian made U.S. landfall, officials said some of the heaviest damage appeared to have been inflicted by raging wind-driven ocean surf that rushed into seaside communities and washed buildings away.

New satellite images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) showed beach cottages and a motel building that lined the shores of Florida's Sanibel Island had been demolished by Ian's storm surge. Although most homes appeared to still be standing, roof damage to all was evident.

Surveys from the ground showed that the barrier island, a popular tourist getaway that was home to some 6,000 residents, was left utterly ravaged, from its infrastructure to its famously idyllic aesthetic character.

Flood watches were posted for southwestern Virginia and southern West Virginia on Saturday, even as major to record flooding was forecast to continue in central Florida.

About 1.2 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida as of 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) on Saturday, with some 300,000 outages scattered across the Carolinas and Virginia.

U.S. President Joe Biden said at the White House on Friday that Hurricane Ian "is likely to rank among the worst in the nation's history."

"We're just beginning to see the scale of that destruction," Biden added. "It's going to take months, years to rebuild."

Estimated losses from Ian's wind and storm surges are between $28 billion and $47 billion, according to CoreLogic, a U.S. research firm that estimates losses from natural disasters.

(With input from agencies)