so you are partway there, from the mainland, to pine island, and then beyond pine island there is boca grande, captiva island, sanibel, we saw some pictures. as we look on our screen from the international space station of hurricane ian, look at that storm. that gives you an idea how big this thing was. i know in boca grande, i've seen pictures of the south seas bar and grill that was just totally wiped out. what are you hearing about what happened on the barrier islands? >> more of the same. as a matter of fact, my photographer is just coming back from a little bit more of the marina areas of matt lachey island. buildings are collapsed, the boats are crunched on top of each other like they were toys, and the infrastructure is badly damaged. we just -- everything you have to try to go there by foot to a certain extent, then get in a boat and over the washed out roadways and then try to get to the rest of it. there are still people stranded there, so one by one you are hearing these coast guard helicopters come into the area to pick up people and take them out, that's the reality of the

, and in is the now unpassable bridge to pine island. so, for residents of both, the boats and helicopters are the only exit options. and while the coast guard blackhawks and chinooks buzzed on the grim day after, two of the only boats in this part of the gulf carry civilian volunteers from the cajun navy. those good ol' boys with the bass boats and big hearts. >> tell us the name of an individual to go pick up, and we will go to get them. >> reporter: and a new project dynamo led by a former military and americans who served in the battle in russia and ukraine and afghanistan. >> give us a project, and we are there to help. >> and you helped to get the troops from a bunker. >> yes, and here we are going to rescue some people from sanibel which is cut off from the world. and so it is very apropos. >> we need help. >> you need help? you want to get out of here? >> i am in the bedroom. >> okay. give us a minute, and we will come there. we follow the cry for help on sanibel to find a gentleman eager to accept the boat lift, but unable to co

, and this is the now unpassable bridge to pine island. so for residents of both, boats and helicopters are the only exit options. and while coast guard blackhawks and shin nooks buzzed over the barrier islands on the grim day after, two of the only boats in this part of the gulf carry civilian volunteers from the cajun navy, those good old boys with fast boats and big hearts. >> tell us somebody to go pick up, we will try to go get them. >> reporter: and a newer outfit known as project dynamo, more accustomed to saving americans from russians in ukraine or the tallahassee in afghanistan. >> when americans are in trouble, in bad spots, usually we do war zones and conflict zones, but hurricane ian qualifies. >> and you're named after churchill's operation. >> correct. >> to get the -- >> off of dunkirk. and now here we are, we're going to rescue people off of sanibel which is cut off from the world right now. it's a very approbo. >> trying to help people out if they need help. >> do you need help? >> do you want to get out of here? >> i'm i

fort myers beach, sanibel island, pine island devastated completely. we see those pictures in the air and it is hard to imagine that a storm could create moments like that and governor desantis even discussing that and the amount of logistics that is happening here on the ground right now from the state to the local to the federal government is amazing. it is an orchestra of people coming in to try to help this area recover and get people out of harm's way. just tremendous situation right now. the updated number is about people that are in shelters, the death count and the people that are being taken out of these places. i can tell you, yesterday again to your point about down on the barrier islands, we drove from here, fort myers, about ten miles or so trying to get on the island of fort myers beach. of course we got to the bridge there. that bridge is okay thankfully. officials wouldn't allow us on because the active search and rescues there. on our drive down there you could still see standing water, 1, 2 feet and convoys of vehicles going through t

island or captiva or sanibel or any of them >> i've been to pine island. not recently, but i have not been to captiva and sanibel. i did get satellite photos and some recon photos from our drone team and it looks like the windward sides of those islands took the brunt i was surprised to see how many roofs were still intact but could see a lot of deinstruction around them. >> there certainly is in pine island more of a middle class community. the buildings are older, so they're not built up to the codes that maybe they would be on sanibel i'm speaking in general terms. a lot of nice middle class folks who make a life there and we know hundreds and hundreds of them didn't leave. and looking at the destruction on that island, i'm pretty terrified that lee county is releasing no information about casualties, but eventually they'll have to and it's just horrifying. >> you covered enough to know the truth of what i'm about to say. i hate to be one of those guys but it's always the folks that have the least that suffer the most in these things and, you know, agai

pine island, sanibel, those will be rebuild efforts. the sanibel bridge has breaks in multiple parts. most held up well. it was where you had it on some of the sandbars and those basically got washed out from underneath. in the meantime kevin can talk about this. they're going to be running barges to bring more heavy equipment on to the islands to help with the response so first responders that have been there by and large coming into error, you have some equipment but their traveling light or just to be able to go and get people as quickly as possible. there have been six healthcare facilities evacuated in southwest florida . they were having problems with water or albums with power for an extended period of time. we're prioritizing getting power and running potable water to the rest of the areas healthcare facilities. there have been 117 facilities that lost power that now have power restored. sports, tampa bay, everglades are reopened for fueling and i think between today and tomorrow all the reports in the state of florida up and do

it's going to be -- we also have another island, great community, pine island. that bridge got severed, too. now, we will fix both of those bridges. but that doesn't happen overnight. i mean, there's a long process that goes on with that. so in the meantime, they are going to be running boats. they are going to obviously be doing air operations. i know sanibel used to be an island that you had to ferry too anyway. we have some of those throughout the state of florida that's how they do it. i think most people appreciate being able to drive back and forth. we'll do that. those island communities that were severed by the bridge were probably the most difficult to get to. so you just had to use these resources. that's why we had all the aircraft stationed in the run-up to the storm. hey, we have another 50 aircraft. now we have 250 aircraft ready to go. f.w.c., national guard, all these different task forces and everything. we have these -- the same guys that responded to the surfside tower collapse in south florida, they were on alligator alley midnight while the

james city on pine island. and what struck me about this trip out there on sanibel, you know about the bridge being blown down. but a lot of the houses there looked pretty good. they escaped pretty unscathed because of the quality of the construction. this is a high-end neighborhood for lack of a better term. same on north captiva. there's no cars. it's sort of a golf cart community. the working class folks live in prefabricated housing or mobile homes were so vulnerable, especially to a category 4 like this, laura. and the destruction there at st. james is breathtaking. you just -- it's -- you can -- these are human lives sort of spread out all over the ground. and if you forget that, you think, this place just has to be bulldozed. what can be salvaged here? but then you have to be reminded, these are people's lives. and some people did not want to leave the storm, and they certainly don't want to leave now even though the destruction around them is unlivable, frankly. >> did you see people when you were out t

images of the eye wall that came ashore in pine island, florida. accuweather video of the fierce wind and storm surge from just before the hurricane made landfall. in fort myers, evidence of that storm surge just ahead of the hurricane. cars and backyards in this neighborhood disappearing. in fort myers, that powerful wind ripping the roof off of this home. the moment the eye wall hit, the pictures right here. the torrential rains. winds destroying this building. a traffic camera capturing landfall in punta gorda. trees blowing and the gusting rains. tonight, more than a million and a half customers in the dark. and look at the sparks flying near those lines in downtown naples. there in naples and in other communities tonight, curfews now in effect. first responders finding it very difficult at this hour. the storm surge flooding this naples fire station, in fact. the hurricane, as we said, now headed inland. orlando now bracing, where many took cover in hotels. and we have told you here, this could be a category 1 hurricane tracking north, and the

pine island, sanibel, those are going to be rebuilt efforts. the sanibel bridge had breaks in multiple parts of it. it was not where the water and the pylons were, those held up well. it was where you had it on the sand bar and that was basically washed out from underneath. in the meantime, and kevin can talk about this, they're going to be running barges to be able to bring more heavy equipment on the island to be able to help with the response. the first responders that have been there by and large coming in via air, they do have some equipment, but they're travelling lighter to go and get to people quickly as possible. there have been six health care facilities evacuated, southwest florida, they were not-- they were having problems with water or problems with power for an extended period of time. we're also prioritizing getting water and running potable water to the rest of the areas health care facilities. 117 facilities that had lost power that now have power restored. the ports, tampa bay, miami, everglades. they are reopened for fueling

just tonight as we are coming into pine island. we saw a lot of people that were evacuating, the islands out here, and i think the people are really starting to take this seriously. because it is going to be a category four, atlanta far, previous hurricanes like hurricane harvey, hurricane laura, hurricane ida, last year, similar intensity. and it looks like this was also is going to produce a huge amount of rainfall as well. flash flooding is going to be a system stand. suspenseful threat. a high risk for assessed rainfall by the prediction center across central portion of the state, including tampa. so all types of flooding expected from the storm system. flash flooding, coastal flooding, storm surge flooding, and it's possible that with the storm slowing down, on a partial florida, a vast storm surge could last for multiple title cycles. >> let's talk about that, because you said category four. they are expecting we heard as a category 3. with winds of up to 120 miles per hour. it's expected to feed off the warm waters of the gu

. >> pine island, sanibel, those are going to be rebuild efforts. the sanibel bridge had breaks in multiple parts of it. it was not where the water and pylons were. those held up well. it is where you had it on the sandbar and it got washed out. >> dana: the scale of the wreckage is southwest florida is staggering. many homes have been completely destroyed. fort myers beach, florida was one of the areas hardest hit. >> right here along this boulevard it is nothing but destruction either total destruction or extremely heavy damage. it was the marina office. i'll show you the restaurant over there. it is all blown wide open. no walls. this is a 50-ton charter boat to go deep sea fishing. 50 tons. the storm surge was so strong it lifted it up out of the water, off of the pilings that it was tied to and surged onto the major boulevard. there are two other 50 ton vessels behind it as well. search and rescue is the main objective for the second straight day heading over the direction you are looking at, which is fort myers beach proper. a lot of people st

, and this is the now unpassable bridge to pine island. so for residents of both, boats and helicopters are the only exit options. and while coast guard blackhawks and chinnocks buzzed over the barrie barriers islands, two of the only boats in this part of the gulf of mexico carry civilian volunteers from the cajun navy. those good old boys with bass boats and big hearts. >> give us the name or tell us somebody to pick up and we'll try to go get them. >> and a newer outfit known as project dynamo, more custom to saving americans from russians in ukraine or the taliban in afghanistan. >> when americans are in trouble and bad spots we do war zones and conflict zones but hurricane ian qualifies. >> and your named after churchill's operation. >> correct. >> to get the -- >> and here we are, going to rescue some people off of sanibel which is cut off from the world right now. so it is a very apropos. >> trying to help people out if they need help. >> you need help? do you want to get out of here? >> i'm in the bedroom. >> give us a minute. we'l

pine island, the southern tip there is a town called st. james city, and that is where i saw truly some of the most devastation, not just of what we've seen today in florida but in my career of covering these storms going back before katrina. it was just a jumble of broken homes and cars and sunken boats and rvs and canals. and just the shattered pieces of so many people's lives spread everywhere. really just heart breaking. but on sanibel island where the construction is wealthier and stronger, it was not nearly the same level of obvious pain. you know, we walked around a little bit on sanibel. there was kind of the damage you would see in a storm but nothing to the scope as we've seen in some of the working class neighborhoods around here and on the mainland and there in st. james city. it was breathtaking, don. >> talk to me about it a little more because i'm looking at the video of you walking around with parts of the walk way washed away. it's going to take a long time to rebuild, right? >> both. oh, incredible long time. for some of t

the bridges, the only vehicle access to sanibel island and pine island are now impassable says the governor. entire sections of these bridges have been washed away essentially cutting off those barrier islands. in port charlotte, the monster winds blew the roof off the intensive care unit at a hospital and also flooded the er, just really scary moments playing out in many different parts of the state. florida's governor gave an update this morning and the way he put it, he says, ian is producing a 500-year flood event for cities far from the coastline where ian first made landfall. the city of orlando got more than a foot of rain in just a few hours overnight and right now, more than 2.5 million customers are without power which is a huge problem and a major focus as this day, this first light comes up and the day continues. let's start with chad myers right now. he has the very latest on this storm for us. chad, ian is not yet done. >> it's not. it's going back to be a hurricane again and the hurricane warnings are now posted for the entire coast of south carolina. yes, this thing is getti

but some of the structures have held up which is in stark contrast to pine island. look at, this flattened. especially mobile homes of the working class and retirees living in st. james city. >> before we go, new images showing the rescues of very, very valuable family members of the storm. and plucking dogs and cats from the floodwaters, and the message on facebook, pets are family, period. and now, try to have a peaceful weekend. ana cabrera is going to pick up our coverage right now. >>> hello and thank you for being with us. i'm ana cabrera in new york, a right now, the people in south carolina hunkering down with hurricane ian poised to make landfall again soon.

james city, which is on pine island. and that is where we saw by far the most devastation, just complete, utter chaos. homes in the canals, motor homes in the canals, sunken yachts. and we went out there because a woman had called cajun navy and said, could you pick up my father and mother. he's an amputee, he's elderly. so, we went and found them amid all of this. kind of tough to do without gps. communication is really sketchy right now. >> waze doesn't work with the cajun navy. >> waze doesn't work with the cajun navy. by counting the number of houses down and figured out where they were. there's the gentleman there, richard, who we met. they were so grateful. she got very emotional when she was told that her kids were worried about her because that was, like, the next level of stress, right? after tla survived the storm, they know that their kids have been watching the storm on tv and are worried sick about them. so, it was a great relief for her and her husband to get back to dry land. and they're with their family

you're preparing your folks for that, pine island, fort myers, on and on, this is where the surge will be significant. how is it looking there now? >> yeah. the, you know, it is deteriorating by the minute. we are prepared for a direct hit appears by the eyewall. so we know that this is going to be a catastrophic storm. we've been preparing for this event for the last two days, but, right now, as the time where, in the next 30 minutes we're expecting the eyewall to start making land in our city, so we're very concerned. we've asked our residents, it is now time to shelter in place. go to an interior room. be prepared, we know the next six to eight hours will be extremely critical, and as you mentioned. one of our biggest fears is 10 to 18-foot of storm surge which we know could be catastrophic for our city. we have over 200 miles of saltwater canals. so we're very, very concerned with this storm. our public safety has been suspended because it is just too dangerous for them to be out there as well. so we are just waiting for the next six to eight hours and before we can get some assess

we have video of scenes from all across this area including fort myers beach and pine island where we are, cape coral, that show this trail like a buzz saw came through a lot of these places, claiming life, claiming property. there is one area that i am here right now that is a waterway, but this time yesterday it was a lot that was about to be developed and have a home click on it. i mean, this water created new pathways that were not here before. that is the power we are seeing on display. meanwhile, i can tell you the loss of life, as you've heard, is expected to be significant, and that is everything we are hearing on the ground, as well. communication still spotty, we're having to use a satellite to do this report for you because cell phone service does not exist at this point. but we continue to see convoys of rescue crews, helicopters, utility crews rushed into this area to do what they can now that the storm has died down and they can actually start to get into some of these areas. you know, the man who was in this house, judge, says he evacuated just before the storm really s

pine island, sanibel, those are going to be rebuild efforts. the sanibel bridge had breaks in multiple parts of it. it was not where the water and the pylons were. told held up very well. it was where you had it on some of the sandbar and that basically just got washed out from underneath. in the meantime, kevin can talk about this, they're going to be running barges to be able to bring more heavy equipment onto the island to be able to hem with the response. the first responders that have been there by and large coming in via air, you know, they do have some equipment, but they're traveling lighter just to be able to go and get the people as quickly as possible. there have been six health care facilities evacuated southwest florida. they were having problems with water or problems with power for an extended period of time. we're also prioritizing getting power and running potable water to the rest of the area's health care facilities. there have been 117 facilities ha had lost power that now have power restored. the ports, tampa bay, miami, ev

. >> reporter: accuweather capturing the eye wall piling water onto pine island as the storm moved onshore. up to 18 feet of storm surge expected in some areas. ahead of landfall, the storm pulling the water out of tampa bay. christopher barcea has lived in naples for years. recording this video as the water creeps up. >> the house is halfway under water. there goes my car, floating away. >> reporter: hurricane hunters flying into ian. >> holy cow! >> reporter: knocked around by extreme turbulence. >> oh! >> reporter: still, some choosing to ride out the fearsome storm. >> we woke up around 6:00 a.m. it was really kind of a nice morning. just a breeze here and there. ever since, every hour or so gets more intense. >> reporter: just outside sarasota, mike and jill donnelly prepare to hunker down for ian's ferocious onslaught. >> gusts? all right, we're thinking maybe 90 miles an hour. you never anticipate yourself being in the eye of a hurricane, but i think we'll actually be in the eye of a hurricane. which i think is somewhat cool and somewhat terrifying at the same time. >> part of the r

. >> reporter: accuweather capturing the eyewall piling water onto pine island as the storm moved on shore. naples fire station taking on water. the storm undergoing rapid intensification ahead of landfall, increasing the hurricane force wind field out 45 miles from the center. hurricane hunters flying into ian knocked around by extreme turbulence. >> there goes the bed. holy cow! whoa! >> reporter: one hurricane hunter describing it as the roughest flight of his career, that he'd never experienced that much lateral turbulence, or seen that much lightning. one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever make landfall in florida now expected to cut across the state like a slow-moving buzz saw. >> this is where we're expected to be by 8:00 tonight. it's 3:00 right now, and look, the hurricane moves barely 50 miles. this is an exceptionally slow moving storm. >> reporter: orange county fire trucks using loudspeakers to alert residents in this mobile home park to seek shelter, the storm is coming. fema ready to respond as soon as it is safe. >> we've prepositioned quite a bit of equipment so

we know sanibel causeway, we also know pine island bridge. those two are not passable and they're going to require structural rebuild. right now if you look in the central florida you are looking at potential major flooding in orange, in seminole counties, st. johns river all the weight of potential into northeast florida and jacksonville. the amount of water that has been rising and will likely continue to rise today even as the storm is passing is basically a 500 year flood event. i know seminole county has been evacuations. i know they've opened shelters, but we are going to see a lot of images about the destruction that was done in southwest florida and obviously with massive assets of there. people should understand this storm is having brought impacts across the state and some of the flooding you are going to see in areas hundreds of miles from where this made landfall are going to set records. that's going to obviously the things that will need to be responded to. we have of course massive amounts of food and water in the area we are g

it is on the southern tip of pine island earlier today. check it out, if you will. >> whoo! whoo! >> you got to be kidding me! you got to be kidding me right now! >> and the threat is not over yet. there's still people who are out there sheltering in place. gaoept know their condition. we don't know if they're in a safe place now. there are power outages up to almost 2 million people across the statement we have our correspondents and our crews fanned out over the state of florida. bill is in punta gorda. brian todd is in largo. jerry is in bradenton and jeremy the weather center. bill, ace understand you're on lockdown tonight. you ever seen some of the biggest action with the wind and rain. what are you seeing where you are right now? >> well down it's calmed dion. there is a 9:00 curfew in punta gorda including media and a blackout with well over a million customers florida power & light. we saw the back end of the eye of the storm. once the eye passed over we thought we saw pretty stiff winds but the bag end of it we were trying to hold the hotel door shut because the power ha

fort myers beach, sanibel, pine islands, that is going to take some time. in those areas we do have other challenges for their potentially vehicles in the water that are potentially boats in the water there's potentially debris in the water. will be working with our federal partners to mission assignments special resources to go in there and start looking under the water to do an underwater survey to ensure we can actually get the necessary barges and heavy equipment into those areas to respond effectively. i think this is an appropriate time to say thank you very much for all of your assistance. admiral pierson as well on tag in general has been with me day one. 0700 which means he had to leave saint augusta at zero for something. thank you very much. we continue to mobilize additional resources to impacted areas. specifically today we did more than 40 bottles of oxygen, 100 ambulances additional 120 utility trucks. for mobile triage units for these are specific units to help triage patients. if somebody becomes insured we do have hospitals that have some

island bridge are not passable and will require structural rebuilds. right now, if you look in central florida, you are looking at potential major flooding in orange and seminal counties, st johns river all the way into northeast florida and jacksonville. the amount of water that has been rising and will continue to rise today even as the storm is passing is basically a 500 year flood event and i know seminal county has done evacuations and has shelters but we will see a lot of images about the destruction done in southwest florida and we have massive assets there. people need to understand, there. people need to understand, the storm is having huge impacts across the state and some of the flooding you're going to see in areas, hundreds of miles from where this made landfall, i going to set records and that's going to obviously be things that will need to be responded to. we have massive amounts of food and water in the area. we will probably have close to 300 truckloads of food and water in the area today. fortunately, most of our school districts wil

fort meyer's beach, pine island, the barrier island. you want to search and rescue. people that need help, you get it. talk about water, getting food, the essentials. most important, security. we want everybody to be safe and secure. >> trace: we go over this. this is not to slam anybody. but the response from the federal government, fema, tends to be at a snail's pace sometimes. is there a plan b? do you have enough state resources to get this cleanup and rebuild moving before you get some federal help coming in? >> well, i'll tell you, we've had a great response on our end. governor desantis literally just left. all of my fellow brothers and sisters in the sheriff's office and law enforcement all over the state have send people over. i'll tell you, the teams out there, the emergency operation center, we work at every level to ensure the highest quality of service and immediate most important. immediate. >> trace: yeah. it's interesting. i have to go here, sheriff. the fire marshal says this might be the worst event in the state of florida's history. that is a very

remote locations like pine island and sanibel island cut off from the main land. these before and after images showing just how hard sanibel was hit. >> so the only way to access that is either by sea or by air. >> reporter: so far, more than 700 people rescued, the governor says. this car in orange county was filled with water, up to the seats when the passengers were rescued. the coast guard making rescues by air, from floridaed communities along the coast. here, a rescuer is lowered into the water, finds a woman in a house surrounded by water. >> make sure you have a bag with a dry pair of clothes, with i.d.s, cell phones, wallets. >> reporter: a basket is lowered, she climbs in, clutches her pet crate, and she and her pet are hoisted to safety. volunteers pitching in as well, using boats to evacuate survivors stranded by the floodwater. >> the surge was higher than 9 feet. >> reporter: harrowing stories from the deluge still emerging, include from the survivor who took this video. >> initially, the water pushed me up the stairs and then it sucked me back down,

remote locations like pine island and sanibel island cut off from the mainland, these before and after images showing how hard sanibel was hit. so far, 700 people rescued, the governor says. >> rescue personnel have gone to 3,000 homes in the hardest hit areas. >> this town was filled with water when the passengers were rescued, the coast guard making rescues by air from flooded communities along the coast. a rescuer is lowered into the water, finds a woman in a house surrounded by water. >> make sure you have a bag, drop your clothes with i.d., cell phone, wallets. >> a basket is lower, she climbs in, clutches her pet and volunteers pitching in as well, us using boats to evacuate survivors. >> higher than 9 feet. >> reporter: harrowing stories from the deluge still emerging from the survivor who took this video. >> the water pushed me up the stairs, and then it sucked me back down as well. i got completely submerged under water, all above my head. >> reporter: among residents returning to survey the damage, distress and determination. >> it's emotional is all i can say. put a lot of h

pine island, sanibel island, and then today, we're setting up quite a few different distribution points where community can walk or go pick up something hot to eat. >> yeah, because today is the time where people start running out of the power bars and the canned goods or the bottled waters they may have kept to get through the storm. and there's very few ways to get food other methods. >> and with the power being out, everybody has lost all the food in their fridges. we've got quite a few different locations that people will be able to go pick up something to eat. the best way to find them is to go to our social media, world central kitchen, share that so everybody knows, they can get food, water, fruit, something hot to ease. >> sanibel island, they're cut off. the causeway collapsed. that's a specific challenge. what are some of the other challenges in the ian aftermath? >> every disaster is completely different this had the flooding, the storm surge, the loss of power and loss of communication. they're all unique and our teams are adapting to each community's needs and each disaster

santa bell causeway and pine island bridge, they connect the mainland to the two very popular barrier islands right near ft. meyers and both going to require substantial structural rebuild and that's ron desantis and these rebuilds that will take a significant amount of time even years and ian's damage is historic and one that changed the character and the very complexion of the state and also saying the national weather service has issued that hurricane warning as you just heard from jason for coastal south carolina and the storm is expected to make land fall tomorrow and come out to sea. looks like to avoid this but the coast of georgia, very high storm surge and nothing like 18 feet that false positives saw but it's going to -- florida saw and it's going to be a hassle just the same. let's go to the florida highway patrol troop and thank you for taking the time. what can you tell us? >> thank you for having me, our troopers are responding for hurricane recovery efforts and they're trying to clear roadways and use chain saws to chop down trees and get them out of the roadway and tel

and this is now the unpassable bridge to pine island. so boats and helicopters are the only exit option. and on the grim day after, two of the only boats in this part of the gulf have civilian volunteers as good ol' boys with big hearts. >> when americans aren't in trouble, we do war zones and conflict zones but hurricanes qualify. >> you're named after -- >> here we are, we are going to rescue some people from sanibel if they need help. >> you need help? >> give us a minute, we'll come there. >> we follow the cry for help ashore on sanibel to find a gentleman eager to take the boat but unable to convince his better half. >> we're going. >> to where? >> i'm not ready to go. >> there are plenty of hazards, like the hint of natural gas. with you in one of the most covered zip codes in florida, the construction mostly held up, which is in stark contrast to this island. >> it's absolutely flattened. especially the homes of the working homes and retirees. >> are you home? it's your daughter calling. >> when their storm cut out, the grandchild

but we know sanibel, causeway, we also know pine island bridge. those two are not possible, and they are going to require structural rebuilds. right now, if you look in central florida, you're looking at potential major flooding in orange and seminole counties, st. john's river, all the way up potentially into northeast florida and jacksonville. the amount of water that's been rising and will likely continue to rise today, even as the storm is passing, is basically a 500-year flood event. and i know seminole county has done evacuations. i know they've opened shelters, but we're going to see a lot of images about the destruction that was done in southwest florida, and obviously, we have massive assets there, but people should just understand, this storm is having broad impacts across the state, and some of the flooding you're going to see in areas hundreds of miles from where this made landfall are going to set records. and that's going to obviously be things that will need to be responded to. we have, of course, massive amounts of food and water i

emergency rescue crews are trying to get to places like pine island, and they have to go by helicopter, get on a boat to reach people, that, by the way, are still stranded. this search and rescue mission is still very, very active. there are people who are on these barrier islands awaiting rescue, so much still there to track for you in terms of those rescues underway. it's difficult to navigate around here. it took us a couple hours to get to this point from fort myers because all the electricity is out. therefore your streetlights don't work. traffic is mayhem. there's no gasoline. hotel rooms are still extremely scarce at this point. these are delicate first few hours of the search and rescue process. unfortunately what we're seeing is not good. stay with fox weather. we'll continue to keep you posted on what we find. tucker, back to you. >> tucker: matt nunley for us, from matlacha. last night we told you about the fbi's crac crackdown. dozens just raided the home of a pro-life leader, arrested him in front of his wife and seven children with guns drawn for nothing, a noncrime, a m

island and one of the hardest hit areas in addition to fort meyers beach. homes are leveled and it's like a buzz saw came through here. we've seen signals of where the storm surge has created new waterways and channels where they didn't exist before. that's the power and the furry that we are seeing here, and unfortunately we constantly hear that relay of helicopters in the area trying to find and remove victims, that search and rescue operation still in full force right now and happening both by air and by land. the roadways and brinells here have been wash -- bridges have been washed out and that complicates further the rescue efforts here and tonight a lot in motion, a lot of tragic scenes that we continue to see unfold as we try to wrap our heads really around the path and the magnitude of the disaster. elizabeth: will, it is devastating and heart breaking. thank you for your reporting there. it's good to have you on. joining us now is florida congressman byron donalds. thank you so much for joining us. talk to us about what's going on now and your stra

the road leading to the barrier islands, neil, down to fort meyers beach, and sanibel island and pine island full of boats and debris like you're looking at right now. the aryl aerials that we are seg coming over fort meyers beach are devastating. according to officials, nearly 80% of structures are in ruin and i believe it. that's where we started out our day on wednesday morning covering hurricane ian. we retreated, went over the bridge because storm surge was coming in, sure enough to get here to downtown to see hurricane-force winds like i've never experienced whip through the buildings here and storm surge coming into downtown fort meyer and thankfully that's receded and this is the aftermath we're looking at right now as governor ron desantis says that thousands of national guard are here, and they're going to be setting up check points to give out water and provisions over 40,000 utility workers, neil, are on the way or here from states all over the country, and unfortunately according to to officials, 21 confirmed dead and hundreds of people have been rescued as search and res

on pine island, a storm chaser captured these huge waves hitting the island and while driving saw this power flash. in port charlotte, the hospital flooded leaving doctors and personnel wading through flooded hallways. >> we have about 160 patients in-house. and the roof blew off. part of the roof on the icu. >> oh, my god. >> the icu. >> guys, let me take it. all right. so, we've lost john berman's signal. we're going to re-establish that. i do, though, want to get first to ryan young who is in orlando which is now experiencing some of the rain, and some of the wind coming from this storm. and it's expected to intensify there, ryan. what are you seeing? >> reporter: yeah, brianna, i can tell you this is a tale of two stories. really, there were so many people yesterday, we started in tampa and we drove to orlando. we saw so many people on the road leaving tampa to get here, thinking they'll be safe here. only to find out their homes are safe in tampa and now dealing with the storm in orlando. some of these people are first-time floridians experiencing the storm for the first time and

the communities of sanibel and pine island are now cut off from the mainland after ian washed away parts of this causeway. this is a major thoroughfare right there. the governor said the area suffered a biblical storm surge. let's bring in acting deputy director at the national hurricane center and joins me from miami. michael, thank you so much. tell us, where is the danger right now? >> right now we're most concerned about this area from east central florida, say from cape canaveral, to the jacksonville area. we have the center of ian pushing offshore of cape canaveral. strong winds along the east central florida coast south of daytona beach. we also have storm surge in st. augustine. you see water pushing into the old parts of the city there. we have very heavy rainfall. so this is sort of the hunker down mode with the storm now. quickly that threat is going to shift up to georgia and south carolina and north carolina as we go through the evening hours and into tonight and tomorrow. >> so is the biggest danger to life the wind or the storm surge? >> well, generally storm surge has the

pine island not far from here there are people that are trapped there. they have no way in and out of that particular island. if we look at the before and after of the causeway, sanibel island. you look at this image, and you see what the surge did as it came in off the gulf of mexico, ripped open the road in there, torrent. there is no pathway now. the only way to get there is from air or water from the gulf. the sounds of chainsaw also begin here this morning as there is a curfew in place by officials because, unfortunately, natural disasters bring out the best and the worst in humanity as looting has been happening. let's listen to one official from lee county as he describes some of what is going on. >> yesterday, when law enforcement was unable to respond because of the weather condition it was unsafe, there was a break-in on cleveland avenue. there was looting. and there was a group of people, don't know a lot about it yet. who just had their way. >> meanwhile, there is no fuel. no gasoline because there's no power. so people who have not lost thei

all the bridges to pine island just north of there have also failed. this evening nbc nightly news anchor lester holt spoke, to the people who didn't evacuate before the storm and may be trapped there. >> we have had significant numbers of people contact us, people who we knew were on the island, so we have been logging those meticulously and getting those out to our first responders. we had about 200 households that didn't evacuate on the island that we know of, and the search and rescue teams are on the island going to those areas trying to help those individuals and make sure they are safe. there have been some people that have come off the island. >> as you hear the mayor of sanibel describing there, a huge issue today is that the infrastructure damage is making it difficult for first responders to reach areas where people may be stranded or worse. at least ten people are confirmed dead from the storm but that number is expected to rise perhaps significantly. visiting fema headquarters today, president biden warned it in could be the deadliest hurr

this is the farthest we can go on cape coral, because if you tried to get to pine island, the bridges have been compromised, and in some cases washed out. even the roads here in cape coral, in some cases, have been washed out. we have some video of where we are here. we've seen so many buildings washed away completely. others collapsed. we've heard the buzz of helicopters throughout the day, trying to get in here and do rescues. there have been people all afternoon waiting to be rescued. meanwhile the death toll continues to grow. at this point it is still an evolving number. neighbors are fearing that it's going to continue to grow as more people are found over the coming days. that's just the harsh reality, jesse, what we're facing at this hour, as convoys of rescue workers, utility workers, continue to move in here, to the area. i spoke with a man who lived in this home here behind me. he got about three hours before the storm hit. he came back this afternoon, and said, "will, i've been talking with my neighbors for years, what it's going to be like if we get the one big storm." it

this was the scene just ahead of landfall captured by a storm chaser in pine island, florida. these conditions are expected to worsen in the coming hours, believe it or not. more than 850,000 customers are without power across the state of florida. another major concern today is the storm surge. the storm surge is the abnormal rise of ocean water that's generated by the storm. the lee county sheriff expects that to be, quote, life changing today. that area includes ft. myers and the city of cape coral where the emergency management manager tells cnn, hurricane ian will likely be one of the worst the region has ever seen. we are covering the storm as only cnn can with our team of journalists around florida to bring us the latest. north of ft. myers, more than 100 mile per hour winds have been whipping the coast. bill, tell us about the conditions where you are. >> we are in the north part of the eye wall. we anticipate the eye, we may see blue decide here, and we may see lessened winds as it moves over. within the last hour and a half or so, we have seen such violent wind. we h

that's on pine island. and this is a tight little community, a lot of manufactured homes, mobile homes, people whose vote might be worth more than their home, and all of it completely jumbled, shattered and mixed up, like bathtub toys with careless children. it takes your breath away when you see the pieces of peoples lives, the personal mementos, you know, photo albums laying out in this way. it really is devastating, but it's a striking contrast to what i saw in santa belle island, which is a much wealthier zip code, much stronger construction, and not nearly as visible damage there. now, i didn't go over sent a bill so i can't speak for the whole thing, and there was a house that was burning with no one to put it out on fire there, and natural gas leaks that we actually witnessed as well. but the contrast, the tale of two storms as we'll see between the haves and have-nots when it comes to just basic protection, in hurricane andrew, early 90s, really completely wiped homestead florida off the map, change

determined to be safe, they will be reopened as soon as possible but we know santabelle, cosway and pine island bridge, those two are not passable and they are going to require structural rebuilds. right now if you look in central florida, you're looking at potential major flooding and orange and seminole counties,@john's river all the way up potentially into northeast florida and jacksonville, the amount of water that's been rising and will likely continue to rise today even as the storm is passing is basically a 500-year flood event and i know seminole counties has done evacuations. i know they have opened shelters but we are going to see a lot of images about the destruction that was down in southwest florida and obviously we have massive assets there but people should just understand, this storm is having broad impacts across the state and some of the flooding you're going to see in areas hundreds of miles from where this made landfall are going to set records and that's going to obviously be things that will need to be responded to. we have, of course, massive >> we have massive amo

it's the only road to that island. it impassable. all the bridges to pine island also failed. this evening nbc "nightly news" anchor spoke with the mayor of sanibel for her concern about the people that didn't evacuate before the storm and maybe trapped there. >> we have significant numbers of people contact us, people they knew that were on the island. we've been logging those meticulously and getting those out to our first responders. we had about 200 household that's didn't evacuate on the island that we know of. and the search and rescue teams are going to those areas that they can get to right now trying to help those individuals. and make sure that they're safe and there have been some people that came off the island. >> as you heard the mayor of sanibel describing there, a huge issue today is that the infrastructure damage is making it difficult for first responders to reach many areas where people may be stranded or worse. at least ten people are confirmed dead from the storm. that number is expected to rise significantly. president biden warned that ian could be the d

island bridge, those two are not passable and will require structural rebuilds. right now, if you look in central florida, you're looking at potential major flooding in orange and seminole counties, st. john's river up potentially into northeast florida and jacksonville, the amount of water rising and will likely continue to rise today even as the storm is passing, is basically a 500-year flood event and i know seminole county has done evacuations and opened shelters. we'll see images about destruction in southeast florida and we have massive assets there. this storm is having broad impacts across the state and some of the flooding you will see in areas hundreds of miles from where this made landfall are going to set records and that will obviously be things that will need to be responded to. we have massive amount of food and water in the area, we will have probably close to 300 truck loads of food and water in the area today. fortunately, most school districts will reopen on friday or monday. lee county is in a difficult situation, charlotte. we will work with

to some of these aerials which we have seen over fort myers beach, sanibel island, and pine island, they are just remarkable, harris, and i do have to say that the road down there dotted on each side, what you see he has seems like right behind me. the sounds of chainsaw, the cutting of trees, trying to remove them from their homes. blue tarps are already going out. there is no electricity and so many areas and no running water. water is a necessity right now and governor ron desantis and his officials say the army national guard will help facilitate checkpoints where people can get provisions, they can get water, and that will be helpful for the outcome here. in the meantime, the death toll now stands at 21 with search and rescue 24/7, harris. >> harris: thank you again for talking about the water after sandy here, up in jersey new york area, they brought in, actually they did it recently with a another storm. but they brought in the 18-wheelers and people could hook up their water bottles, and things, big jugs to the side of those 18-wheelers that had spigots, kind of like a mommy cow

small village town, helps connect the mainland to pine island by a drawbridge that is now washed away. the only way in and out is by boat. you are the only tv crew to make it in their. what can you tell us about it? >> reporter: well, the downed trees that you see behind me, this is just a fraction of the damage that we saw today. malice is not far from where we have today. they just didn't think it would be this bad. some decided to stay and ride out the storm. others say that they had a feeling that this time might be different because they did leave, but today they came home to find total deposition. just widespread, complete destruction. >> reporter: met with shay florida is even unrecognizable to the people who live here. the small community left obliterated by hurricane ian. >> somewhat worse than we expected. so much worse than we thought could have her happen. >> reporter: john lynch has lived here for 25 years. he and his family evacuated from this historic home. his uncle did live here, just next door. >> that was a beautiful, beautiful little cottage. it really was. i have