Body of US hurricane victim, 82, discovered three months on

The body of an 82-year-old woman missing since Hurricane Ian slammed the United States in September has been found, Florida officials have announced.

Ilonka Knes was one of two people still reported as missing since Ian brought surging waters and Category 4-strength winds to Florida's low-lying west coast.

Her body was found Tuesday by debris removal workers "deep within the mangroves" of Fort Myers and later identified via dental records, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said Thursday.

A medical examiner determined that Knes had drowned, bringing the county's hurricane death toll to 74, Marceno said.

"Most of us have gotten back to a sense of the new normal," he said.

"For some, still missing their loved ones, every day since the storm has been difficult."

Marceno added that work was still ongoing to find the final missing person.

Officials have said it could take months -- and perhaps $50 billion or more -- to rebuild Florida's devastated coastal zones.

Hurricane Ian first passed over several Caribbean islands before wreaking havoc across central Florida and then moving up the US east coast.

It was one of the deadliest storms to hit the United States this century.

Over 100 people died as a result of the storm in Florida alone.

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