Washington, (AFP) - The death toll from Hurricane Ian , which hit the southeastern United States last week, has risen to at least 62, authorities announced Sunday.

The Florida Commission of Coroners said Sunday it had confirmed 58 deaths from the hurricane, while North Carolina's governor said Saturday that four people died as a result of Ian's passage.

The previous death toll in Florida was 44. Shocked Floridians are starting to discover the full scale of the devastation, while rescuers are still searching for survivors in flooded neighborhoods along the state's southwest coast.

Ian destroyed homes, restaurants and businesses when it made landfall as a powerful Category 4 hurricane on Wednesday. But reports of more deaths continue to come out of province after province, suggesting the final toll could be much higher.

US President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, are scheduled to visit Florida on Wednesday, according to White House spokeswoman Karen Jean-Pierre, but the couple will go first to Puerto Rico on Monday to see the extent of the devastation left by another hurricane called "Fiona" that struck US territory last month.