so, hurricane ian is just hours away from another landfall, this time taking aim at south carolina, the south carolina coast. charleston county declaring a

state of emergency tonight, it comes as florida is dealing with catastrophic damage from in, at least 17 people dead tonight. there are fears that that number will go up. cnn's chief climate correspondent is bill weir, and he joins me now. bill, hello once again to you. you say this is some of the worst damage you've ever seen in your career. covering these disasters. tell us what you saw? >> well, by that i mean, don, there are certain sort of moments and scenes in storms that are just burned into your brain, katrina for a lot of the reasons that we all know. that was such a man made disaster in so many ways, same with maria in puerto rico. you think about those comedians. michael which took apart the panhandle. but i will always remember, i will equate even with what i saw today in st. james city. 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, changed a lot of people's minds about building cones, it revolutionized the way people think about adaptation and fortifying against these storms. i've gotta wonder, don, if in will excel right that in any way. who knows. >> bill, you are with the cajun navy, they always come and help out in these situations. you're with them as they made rescues. tell us about it. >> yeah, so these guys are pretty much volunteers who take fundraising dollars, donations, one or $2, and they go out in their own boats and just try to help people. they've been doing it on out of louisiana, these bat, and duck hunters, we thought in harvey around houston, and now officially a nonprofit. and they went out with a couple other groups including project dynamo, which is named after winston churchill's mission to

pull soldiers off the beach at dunkirk by using civilians in every boat. of course, if you remember the movie. and that was their motivated by. that these combined forces we went out today to santa belt, to st. james, and on saint james they were actually going to answer a distress call placed by a child of this couple, seniors who are there who are scared, written out the storm. and we talk to them as they were gratefully accepting a ride back to the mainland. >> you are saying the water came up really fast? >> it did. it was so fast. >> if it wasn't for the water, this would've been a wind storm. not that bad really. >> i'm the one person that i spoke to at the end of the block that the surge was higher than nine feet. fair >> yeah, robert and nancy

share a very sweet and to see nancy she started to break down in tears with emotion when she realized her daughter had sent the cajun navy to come pick them up, it really was a touching moment. >> yeah. bill, i went out in a small boat with orange county fire and rescue earlier today, and governor desantis says there's been 700 confirmed rescues across the state. this is a massive, massive effort. >> it really is. we saw coast guard and florida army national guard, she nooks in blackhawks buzzing over the barrier islands all day, the cajun navy boats were some of the only votes we saw in that part of the gulf of mexico. there is volunteers, chef jose andreas and world central kitchen is here, they've got these big amphibious trucks. so, it's private sector it's charities, it's government it's all hands on deck. but we really wondered about going out there in the guys

from the cajun navy and dynamo were talking about, they're just has to be fatalities that we haven't found yet. and the question is, how many? i remember irma, having to go door to door to begin to see through this week, as they spray-paint you know the sort of marks of checking for proof of life. as you go house by house to see who made it out as well. as you were reporting earlier, we were in punta gorda last night. punta gorda eight or nine tallies there, charlotte county. so you can only just hope that that count stays as low as possible. but you fear that it's going to climb over the coming days. >> yeah, hopeful but i fear it will. and you're right about every sentiment. bill, be safe we'll speak soon. >> i would bring in meteorologist derek van damme, he's in fort myers tonight. derek, appreciate you joining

us once again. what kind of damage are you seeing? >> yeah, the word from the fort myers mater, he said his city looks like a war zone. and unfortunately, we can echo that statement by our team as we arrive in fort myers. we attempted to go to fort myers beach, but it was impossible. the roads were completely impossible, flooded neighborhoods. it was quite remarkable to see. what you're looking at, directly behind me over my left shoulder, is literally a drop in the bucket of the destruction that was unleashed on this area. and i don't say that lightly. because we're talking about an incredible force of nature known as storm surge, it was forecast and unfortunately the worst of our forecast from the cnn weather center and all the meteorologists hyper focused on this storm came true. i want to take you to the sky, because you have to see this

fort myers yacht basin for yourself from the sky. because that really just gives you an indication of how powerful the storm surge actually was here. it tossed around these boats like they were toys. some of these docks were made out of cement, they were actually taken inland a few city blocks, downtown fort myers. we had boats that were wedged in between buildings just behind my camera crew and i. incredible force, incredible nature just at play here with this. there was storm surge of up to eight feet, and it's still slowly receding from some of the low lying areas across between here and fort myers beach, which is about 16 miles to my southeast. really incredible sight to see, don. >> all right, derek van damme. derek, really appreciate you joining us. stay safe. south of fort myers as the city of naples, and some of the communities are beginning to survey the catastrophic damage from in. i want to bring in dan rodriguez, dan is a deputy county manager of collier county and he joins me via

phone. dan, thank you so much. i'm happy that you're here. sorry about what's happening. but we're grateful that you're here to give our viewers some information and tell us about what's going on in naples right now. so, tell us about the damage we're seeing there. >> sure, don, thank you for the opportunity. it's tremendous destruction here. the coastline all the way down from the everglades coming up to everglades city. through goodland, through marco island, and the city of naples. central naples, of course, and moving up to north naples. and then the southern part there of bonita springs, just complete devastation. when you look at our coastline, as you quoted earlier, it does look like a war zone. that eight foot surge took out every first and a half floor of every building, home, along the beach all the way down through everglades city. so, construction debris laying

everywhere, our dunes, the main roads, all just wiped clean. boardwalks, from our beach access points, and the majority of that material just pushed inland into the estuaries, into our streets. just complete havoc here. we've got a large project ahead of us, because this beautiful community back into shape. >> dan, our search and rescue still being conducted with throughout the city? should residents be calling 9-1-1 even now if they need help? i'm not sure if you have the manpower with the capacity at the moment. >> we actually have a very robust 9-1-1 system, thanks to our sheriff and our emergency service operation. yes, they should always call 9-1-1 if they have an emergency. but we will tell you that the rescue operation ceased this evening, thanks to the hard work of our sheriff, our police, and the city of naples. marco island.

as well as our firefighters, they were gone building to building, complex to complex, through the different areas to ensure that anybody was in need of of help, they got the help they needed. so, that ended this evening. >> then, sadly peoples entire lives have been uprooted, and officials in naples have said that the recovery will take weeks, if not months. what is being done to take your people until then? >> absolutely, with our eoc operation, we're in close coordination with the red cross and many other agencies, as you know, here in collier county, government as well as the naples florida, we have different organizations that provide support and help, whether it's temporary housing, or meals or things like that. it's a robust community that comes together during this, as you know, this isn't our first hurricane. we've had irma, which was

potential direct hit, wilma, and over those years we've had lessons learned, where we reinforce our plans are severe weather plans. and we've just, it's sad to say that we've gotten good recovery. but we've gotten better at becoming a tight community and supporting each other with our different agencies, and great communication, whether it's the state of florida or the federal government, that reaches down and brings the resources. if you could be here at our eoc operations building you could see folks from from our county, other cities the fire departments, the sheriff, the police. but also state representatives with the emergency services group, providing fuel, resources, food, water. and then of course fema representatives here helping us through the different paperwork in project work sheet in order to get the heavy muscle down here that we need as well. >> dan, you'll be well.

take care, and once again we're story this is happening, but we're grateful to have folks like you who are doing such great work. thanks so much. >> appreciate you for the time, thank you very much. >> thank you. hurricane ian has strengthened to a category one hurricane again, and is now taking aim at the south carolina coast. low country. landfall expected there tomorrow afternoon, we're gonna go live there next. help comfort your loved ones. for chest, neck, and back. it goes on clear. nono mess. just soothing comfort. try vicks vapostick. >> tech: when you have auto glass damage, let safelite come to you. ♪ pop rock music ♪ >> tech: my customer enjoys time with her family. so when her windshield got a crack... she schedud with safelite in just a few clicks. we came to her house... ...replaced the windshield... and installed new wipers. that's service on her time.

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hurricane ian taking aim at south carolina coast landfall, expected just hours from now. cnn's nick valencia is on the scene in myrtle beach.

in myrtle beach, nick, good evening to you. what's it like where you are tonight? >> hey don, good evening. it is soggy here, but the brunt of the heavy rain is expected to come in the overnight hours. and peak in the early afternoon. so far, we're just in a wait and see mode. you can see it's windy, but the rain has stopped in the last few minutes. we were at myrtle state beach park earlier which i believe we have video of, we can see these waves starting to come in a little bit more aggressive. there are rough waves out there, some gusts of wind about 25 miles per hour, and residents trying to see the conditions there are about to go through. but here further inland, you're not really feeling the effects of those conditions just quite yet. hurry county, which encompasses myrtle beach, this area that we're in, is under a local state of emergency. i did speak to the emergency management during the midday, they said that at that point they had yet to operate their emergency center, it was only a matter of time. it just wait and see mode right here in myrtle beach, don? >> nick valencia, thank you

very much, appreciate that. i want to bring in travis glatt's key, he is the emergency manager for myrtle beach south carolina. travis, thank you so much. hurricane ian is on track to strike south carolina tomorrow. biggest concern at this hour? >> i mean, obviously, i think like the rest of south carolina, we're hoping that in was going to stay a tropical storm and not strengthen when it out to the atlantic. but there's not much difference in our preparations from of tropical storm to a hurricane, our biggest concern is really that storm surge. you start getting to that seven feet where the storm surge put in with the wind in the rain, the coastal flooding is really our biggest issue right now. our biggest concern. >> travis, how are you preparing for this storm? >> so, we have already closed down the beaches, we did that today. it will be in effect all day tomorrow. we have our emergency operation center opening up at 8 am in

the morning, we have up staffed our emergency services, and our public works. we are really focused on the water rescue personnel with the fire department, we feel confident that our preparations have gotten us to this point, where we feel somewhat secure. the hope is that this is a fast-moving storm, either way, we're ready. >> yeah. you got a message for the people of myrtle beach tonight, travis? >> yeah, the big thing is, if you don't have to be out on the roads, please don't go out in them. our beaches are closed. so, even if you do want to go out today to the beaches and take some pictures, when the winds start gusting at 65, 70 miles per hour, that's pretty dangerous. so, we encourage everyone to stay indoors, wait until the officials say that it's okay to go outdoors again, you know, and hunker down, we'll get through this. >> travis, thank you, be safe. we wish you guys well and we

appreciate you appearing on cnn. >> appreciate it, thank you. >> so, i want you guys take a look at this. this is near total destruction. it's in fort myers beach. cnn's randi kaye is on the ground there, one of florida's hardest hit areas, we're gonna hear from her next.

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so, hurricane eta is causing catastrophic damage in fort myers, and tonight, the mayor saying upwards of 200 people rescued by the fire department, and that search and rescue operation appears to have come to an end. and despite the extent of the

destruction, the mayor says that fort myers is not reporting any fatalities. cnn's randi kaye is there for us. randi? >> hey, don, if you want to talk about the power of this hurricane and the power of this storm in the fort myers area, we have a perfect example for you. this is not about yard. let me just say that up front. this boat though is now on dry land. carried over from legacy harbor, which is just on the other side of where we're standing, that's where the water is, carried over here by the force of the winds, the water, in the storm. not only that, but you also have this massive piece of concrete here, this is part of the dock. this is not supposed to be here. it's supposed to be well on the other side of us. back in the water. but was also carried over here. this is incredibly heavy. you can only imagine. if you look out there in the distance, there's some more votes. not supposed to be here. completely out of place. there's maybe one, two, three, four, 56 both out there.

all smashed together. definitely not supposed to be here, carried here by the storm along with other pieces of the dock. there's a couple of oars scattered around, other miscellaneous pieces of boats. and then, if you just go over here, i want to show you something really interesting. this right here, this is another boat, of course on that side, this is the boat line. if you follow this boats line it goes all the way over here, it took, this is a piece of dock, it's still attached to it stop. this boat carried its own dark through the wind through the storm surge over to dry land. so, if you come with me, i get my photographer to come over here, great up, as we walk down here, i just want you to know we're only looking to talk with some of the boat owners, they apparently live on some of these boats or lived on them. and are completely distraught, because this was their home, this was their livelihood like so many other people, in this storm they lost everything they

had. and now they're trying to figure out how to put it back together. if you look at this right here, this is the other side of that boat, and a sort of makeshift boat yard now. you can imagine the force of the water in the winds that that could carry this size of a boat here and do this much damage to it, don. it is just incredible to see it up close and imagine the force of those winds is just absolutely remarkable, don. back to you. >> no doubt, randi kaye, thank you very much i appreciate that. let's bring in now scott carlos, who rode out the hurricane in fort myers. scott, appreciate you joining us, i want to know how you're doing since you rode out the storm, in your fourth story condo in fort myers beach. what was it like. what do you see out the windows? >> yes, everything is just a bunch of debris fields, and sand everything. a lot of the roads broken away as well. along with all the houses are

just completely demolished. >> you saw water rise over your neighbors houses, so tell me about that. how high do you think it got? >> i would say at least ten feet high, so looking across the way we watched the water with the waves crashing against the homes gutter systems up top, it smashed through the actual roof. it had to have been anywhere from 9 to 10 feet across the street from us. and we're 300 yards off the water ourselves, with our -- very long. >> i understand that you have hurricane blasted your condo, that's for stories up, was that enough protection for you? you said the water still seeped through the building? >> correct, yes, so with the pressure and every time the waves hit, it was forcing water through like the cracks of the sliding glass doors, and even the windows in the bedrooms as well. we had to keep putting towels up and just the pressure which

is pushing the water into the condo, so i can imagine all the homeowners as well what they were going through. >> you know, you've been riding scooters through the streets, you've been helping people, you've been watching the coast guard pick up people. tell me what you've seen, and what is it like outside? >> so, just kind of walking around, and riding around we saw -- we saw two or three homes that were ripped from their foundations. -- sitting in the middle the street, in fort myers beach. it was pretty well. >> you've also seen helicopter rescues, can you tell me about that? >> yes, so there is a woman who approached us for help, and there was anything we can do, luckily everyone is able to flip down the coast guard, which circle around one time and landed directly on the beach, not even 100 feet for us, we watched the whole thing. and he had helped her out. he picked her up and carried

her away. and then we watched another rescue where they picked up two people in stretchers with the hooks and everything and pull them up as well. they were working night and day nonstop. >> well, my goodness. i'm sure people are wondering why you stayed, but as i understand, you came to check on your condo. and you decided to stay. you didn't think the storm would be this bad. would you have stayed if you had known? >> definitely not. now that we're stuck here, now that we actually saw the situation was created by this, the family back home and stuff, not being able to guide them through that. luckily didn't lose too much stuff. i can be able to keep time with him -- if i did over, jen no, i definitely would not come back. >> you're from the midwest, i doubt that you've ever seen anything like this, you probably have to deal with tornadoes in such reversing anything like this? >> nothing even close to that.

back home, we get the rain, -- we might jump on a kayak and have fun, but there's no danger involved. so, this was definitely a dangerous and something all never forget. >> yeah, listen, we're glad that you're okay, and we were glad that you're families able to see this in your able to speak to them. and we know that you're doing fine. thank you so much for appearing. >> thank you. i'm gonna. >> thank you. you as well. so, hurricane ian obliterating parts of florida, the governor calling the damage historic, we're gonna talk to florida congresswoman val demings next. congresswoman val demings next. your car go to carvana answer a few questions and our techno wizardry calculates your car's value and giveves you a real offer in seconds we'll come t to you papay you on the spot then pick up your r car that's it at carvana sometimes you're so busy taking care of everyone else you don't do enough for yourself, or your mouth. but eventually, it will remind you. when it does, asn dental is here for you.

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hurricane ian moving north, leaving catastrophic damage in its wake. and i spoke with florida's democratic congresswoman, val demings, about the challenges ahead for the state. >> the people in this area, it need help. because this happens time and time and time again. we gotta get the fire department to get out in boats and rafts to rescue people from their houses, that's a problem. >> they said they've never seen anything like this, people are core calling this a once in a lifetime storm. >> yeah, i think this one, let's hope this is once in a lifetime, because of the amount

of rain storm surge we've seen. that is dumped in this area. 8 to 12 inches in some places, 16 inches. that's a heck of a lot of rain, especially for low lying areas. and so, there's a lot this process is just beginning, we have a lot of work to do. >> florida's democratic congresswoman, val demings, speaking to us at the scene of those rescues today that we witnessed. i want to bring in julia cayenne, she's a former department of homeland security official. julia, hello to you. i really appreciate you joining us. the cleanup is going to be long, it's gonna be hard and expensive. the longest natural disaster in the state's history, where to state and local officials even start right now? >> right, so once the recovery ends and we're essentially over with search and rescue, which will still be a couple of days, that will then begin the process of recovery. there's different funding mechanisms to help communities do that. there's funds that are gonna go

to infrastructure, just simply to get the streets re-done, to get the bridges rebuilt. and then it's gonna be homeowners who are helping homeowners and individuals. this is a very long process, and it's not at all clear what kind of coverage many of these residents will have, less than 20% of the residents in the evacuation zone were covered by flood insurance under the national flood insurance program. that means, they essentially will get no funding at least through a private or public insurance system. but >> yeah, how much help do you think they're going to get from the state? because as you said, a lot of people are under insured here. >> yes. so, there will be a request for funds, i have no question about this in the same way after hurricane sandy in which there were additional funds will be authorized for the state to help people rebuild. but there's an important discussion to be had, and i think we're going to start to

hear people have it, and i don't mean to contradict val demings at this stage, but these are not once in a lifetime storms anymore. the idea that these areas are inhabitable at this stage, we really have to have our eyes open about that. we have to use these disaster relief funds to help people move from where they think they might be moving back to areas where their lives are protected and their property is protected. it's called managed retreat, they're doing it in parts of new york now, and i think we're gonna start to hear it as well in florida, because these storms are just getting bigger and they're wiping out communities, and let's hope the fatality rate isn't similarly devastating. >> what is it called again, you said what? >> it's called managed to retreat in my field, it is essentially -- we pay people, now, under our recent disaster relief system,

to build back -- that make sense if you think nothing that is going to happen there again. but i don't see how you can make the full coast of florida and say people should move back to certain areas. and so, across the partisan divide is this is something that has a lot of support, let's use that disaster relief funding to help people move to areas that are safer. it happened after hurricane sandy, you're gonna hear a lot about it after this hurricane. >> listen, that was the thrust of a lot of my questions over the past couple of days, because at some point, you have to wonder if these places are inhabitable as you say, but you're talking about the coast. but listen, we're in central florida right now. we're in orlando. and this place was just decimated as well. are we gonna be replacing people, managing the retreat of the entire state of florida at some point? >> no, i think what we want to do, i mean honestly, we'll build coastal areas, fire prone

areas, which could have to look at different. for places like orlando, some of these places are insured, and others will get support through public insurance systems. and help people build back either where they are but stronger, so their buildings can withstand the kind of flooding that we're seeing, look, flooding -- you can live through flooding. in other words, there's lots of different kinds of climate threats. -- >> do we lose julia? i think we lost julia. but what you should know is that president biden is expediting some major funds and recovery efforts here in the area, the governor ron desantis, and president joe biden said debris, you know, they have been working together. there's been no partisan divide in that, in trying to get people help here. the governor is asked for it and the president has said, whatever you can do for the

state of florida and beyond, carolinas as well he will do. it will continue this discussion about managed to retreat as julia said, and what happens to people who live in those coastal areas, many of which, the areas obviously, cannot be built back. and some of the homes can't be built back as well. that is a problem in an issue that we're going to be dealing with in the future, and as a matter fact, dealing with right now. we'll take a break, we'll be right back. right back. try. hope. fail. no one should suffer like that. i started cosentyx®. five years clear. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cososentyx. before starting get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infection, some serious and a lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. tell your doctor if your crohn's disease symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reaction may occur. best move i've ever made. ask your dermatologist about cosentyx®.

shingles. the rash can feel like an intense burning sensation and last for weeks. it can make your workday feel impossible. the virus that causes shingles is likely already inside of you. 50 years or older? ask your doctor about shingles. >> so in has gained strength again, it's a category one hurricane tonight now taking aim at south carolina. i want to get back to our expert now tom seder, in the cnn weather center. , thompson low again, once again to you, what can we

expect next from in? >> don we have got some changes here. in fact it's been kind of interesting. in the last hour. let me just break this down for everybody. remember, at the beginning of the week, we were watching the tracks that are issued by the national hurricane center every six hours. and since monday, that track continued to trend eastward. and we watched that center leave of course around the tampa area and slide down to the south. we are seeing the same trend now on the atlantic coastline. the truck seems to be trending eastward, or northward up to the carolinas. now at 11 pm hour, we saw the pressure drop a little bit. the winds were at 80 miles per hour, however, the national hurricane center said wait a minute, hurricane hunter, final winds increasing, it's at 85 miles per hour sustained winds. the gusts are at 100. infrared satellite imagery, the last few images showing a little bit more brighter colors, so there is some convective activity that is trying to slide around on the south side. now it's not encompassing the

entire center just yet, but here's what we have. hurricane warnings still in effect from the border of georgia, south carolina, all the way up to cape feared. and it goes into a couple of counties in south carolina. the tropical storm warnings are well inland. so a lot of people may be shocked that this wind field is 600 miles wide, and it's going to continue to hit with force, tropical storm force winds up into the carolinas. there will be heavy rainfall, and there will be a surge. here is what's different, however. let's start with the radar. the rain has left now the state of florida and the peninsula, it's a little bit up of course southeast areas of georgia, into the carolinas. but if we look at the center of this, all of that rain is still to the north. so they're starting to get into the rain. but let me take you to the track because this is significance. charleston, now not out of the woods. just yet. but it is improving for you, somewhat. here is the shift to the right, this puts a landfall somewhere around the town up georgetown,

however, surfside beach, myrtle beach now, you are into that dirty side instead of it's being to the south of the eye, on the other end of the coast, it's to the north. so myrtle beach now could really see some significant surge. the surge heights have not changed for charleston, but it will improve somewhat, still 4 to 7, but now we are seeing that shift a little bit for myrtle beach. that's going to be a problem still. we are looking at inundation across dawson and into the harvard, all the tributaries, but this is march lands. if we shifted up northward somewhat, don, and that trench continues eastward, it will be interesting the next couple of days. we are still looking for a landfall sometime mid afternoon tomorrow as a category one. with significant wind surge and heavy rainfall. we could have water rescues up here to the north as well in parts of south and north carolina. >> wow, not over yet, tom sater, thank you very, much appreciated. >> thank you so much don. >> first responders have been working nonstop all across florida to help people in danger. earlier, i got a firsthand look.

[noise] >> this is what we're saying now in orlando, rescuers from people who have been stuck in their homes, one of the votes that they are using if you go around, here you can see all the folks who were on the scene. the people who have been rescued here. how are you doing? what are you thinking about all of this? >> it's kind of crazy. i'm actually, i've been searched train, community response team. we have or did the training here in the park for this type of thing, but it's, like no one can plan for this type of thing. >> there are people who are waiting in the water, this very day in this water to try to get to these people out. the water really in some places, neck-deep, some of these folks who are going. it and say just because we are being told by the rescue people here to be careful, because there are gaiters in this water. the outlet, lieutenant fernando, and lieutenant we tons, they have been going in, they have been going in -- rescues from this area.

>> yes, at least 200 starting at about 4:30, 5:00 this morning. so you launched here and you don't know what's under this water, how deep it, is what you are gonna hit? >> absolutely, not at the side of this morning, part of it the big issue with that we had was navigating these waters. even though we know we are in a neighborhood, you know the streets dictate where we go, we've gotten hidden mailboxes, covert. >> trees and right here -- >> yeah. >> some of them are covered and others are just peeking out of the top here. so explain, how -- this area is prone to flooding. but it's gotten more water this time i think the highest water level so far. >> this is the highest it's ever been. it's happened some five years ago and these three lakes that or the small lakes, join together by small canals, they caressed it sometime early this morning. this whole area here is a super low lying area. this one and the neighborhood that we were at this morning which was also family dwellings,

completely devastated. completely underwater. >> if you look right here, this is a basketball 8:10 feet tall, and just poking out of the water here. you see the jungle gyms and swings, whatever, that just gives you an indication of how high the water is. what our folks are saying? i understand, lieutenant, that the pumps went out. they said that they had electricity, but the punishments at even before the electricity? >> i believe that's what it was. they failed. >> they may have. at >> this time, yeah pumped as i believe so. >> how much water do you think they've gotten in here so far? >> oh no we are looking from just looking right, now we are looking eight feet of water, 6 to 8 feet of water. at a minimum. the neighborhood that we were at this morning single family dwelling we're halfway underwater. >> and look at this, this is usually a straight. i mean this looks like a river that you are usually navigating

through on about. that's not meant to be a waterway. but we are also told that many people decided to stay. what are they saying when they got on the boat? >> a lot of them they want to stay because it's their home. and it means a lot to them. a lot of those people, they lost a lot. so they do come into the boat that they are thankful that we are there. but look, the folks right here, lieutenant, the mailbox, and the cars still in the driveway. imagine a malfunction with the battery or whatever, the lights are still on. >> we run into that all day. when we started this morning, it was in the pitch dark. all the cars were just all of them, alarms going off, lights going on. no control at all. >> some of them you can just barely see the top of the roof. >> it's unbelievable. if you turn around, look at these cars, and the mailboxes. and there are people who are still inside of some of these

homes. >> alex, why did you decide to stay? >> a lot of it had to do with there weren't many places, i know the shelters are open. and relatively close by. but there wasn't many places we could go with our stuff. i got my dog in here too. and the flooding is more than we thought it would be. but i still, i don't feel terribly, terribly like my house is about to float away. it's pretty sturdy. we've been through things before. but -- >> this much water though ever? >> this much water, no! [laughs] like i said, the level that is at right now is very surprising. it came in very fast. i was awake last night and it was still in the road around six, and by seven it was up to the first stare down here. so it did rise very fast. but it's been decently stagnant for the past few hours. >> has it reached your floor? >> no, it's not inside yet. all of our -- again as other people around

we've been waving a checking in on each other. we are mainly concerned about our cars. because our cars are shot. >> we're good -- >> thank you so much. >> everyone, we appreciate you joining us now. we're gonna continue our live coverage here on cnn over the next hours. we are gonna be live, the entire time, so make sure you stay tuned. but i appreciate you joining us while we are here in orlando, we'll see you soon, our coverage continues with john evolves right after this. >> and replace your windshield. >> grandkid: here you go! >> tech: wow, thank you! >> c customer and grandkids: by! >> tech: bye! don't wait, schedule now.. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ if you wake up thinking about the market and want to make the right moves fast... get decision tech. for inghts on when to buy and sell. and proacte alerts on market events. that'secision tech. only from fidelity.

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