ICYMI: The Sunday night NFL game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs will go ahead in the Florida city in the wake of Hurricane Ian, the home team has announced.

“We have informed the NFL, after consulting with local and state agencies, that we are ready to play Sunday night’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium as originally scheduled,” the team said in a statement.

The game is scheduled to kick off at 8.20pm ET.

“We would like to thank all of the local government agencies and the thousands of emergency personnel who worked tirelessly over the past few days to ensure that our area would be ready to respond if needed. We would also like to acknowledge the Miami Dolphins organization for their assistance and hospitality in allowing us to use their practice facilities this week,” the statement added.

“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the many thousands in the Southwest Florida region who have been severely impacted by Hurricane Ian. We are also very thankful that the Tampa Bay area was spared the most damaging consequences of this powerful storm.”

ICYMI: Hurricane Ian has brought widespread devastation to Florida, with many areas facing months or years of rebuilding, and for many residents, the recovery process might be prolonged without proper flood insurance, property insurance or other reimbursements for damages.

Ethan Freedman has the details.

Around 200 households stayed on the island during Hurricane Ian, and Mayor Holly Smith says that there have been two fatalities.

Rescuers removed 40 people from the island, which has been cut off after its bridge collapsed, by boat on Thursday. The mayor said that 12 of those had sustained injuries during the storm.

ICYMI: Donald Trump turned to social media to plead for donations to his political campaign as parts of Florida began rescue and recovery efforts following Hurricane Ian.

Speaking in a video on Wednesday from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, southern Florida, the former president pleaded for donations to his Save America PAC ahead of a fundraising deadline.

“We have a major fundraising deadline coming up and there’s never been a time like this,” said Mr Trump, who claimed America had “never been so disrespected” by the world.

The former president had been due to be deposed in a civil class action lawsuit first filed in 2018.

“Search & Rescue Update: As of 2:00 PM (EST), more than 500 individuals have been rescued in Charlotte & Lee Counties since operations began this morning. Search & Rescue efforts are ongoing in impacted areas,” the state’s department of emergency management tweeted on Thursday.

Hurricane Ian made landfall in Lee County on Wednesday as a Category 4 storm with winds of 150mph, while Charlotte County is to its north.

The analysis by researchers Kevin Reed of Stony Brook University and Michael Wehner of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has not yet been peer-reviewed, but they say they used the same methodology for their study of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, which has been.

The resort’s four theme parks closed on Wednesday, but in the 32 hotels that sit on the 27,000 acre theme park near Orlando, Disney staff went to every effort to keep the magic alive.

The storm is forecast to make landfall again on Friday.