hi, i'm karen. i lost 58 pounds on golo and i've kept it off for over a year. it was so easy that the weight just kept coming off. that's when i knew that this is real. golo works. i still can't believe that i look like this. >> dana: fox news alert. hurricane ian drown graded to a tropical storm as recovery efforts commence across southwest florida. the powerful storm trapped millions in their homes and knocked out power to more than 2 million people across the region. before and after video from fort meier shows complete devastation. they saw a storm surge of six feet that leveled buildings and flooded roads. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom," i'm dana perino. >> bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning, dana. devastation staggering. wait until you see the images we're about to show you. the threat far from over.

the storm barreling through the northeast. governor desantis spoke to us on the massive search and rescue operation that continues at this hour and will for some time. >> we've had coast guard rescues, urban search and rescue teams from the state of florida, we've had the national guard down in southwest florida. people have been being rescued on a minute by minute basis and it will continue to go. >> dana: we have live fox news team coverage. jonathan serrie, robert ray and janice dean are standing by. want to go to janice dean in the fox weather center for an update. hi. >> good morning. we'll get the official 11:00 a.m. advisory coming out shortly but we do know this was historic, it is the top four storms, strongest storms to make landfall in florida. 150 mile-per-hour sustained winds. pressure was 9.40 close to a category 5. still the chance they might upgrade it. there were winds indicated at

158 miles-per-hour from hurricane hunters yesterday. the current wind gusts over 50 miles-per-hour in daytona, orlando close to 40 miles-per-hour. this has been battering winds over hours and hours and heavy rainfall on the order of 6 to 12 inches. we aren't done yet. we'll still be covering this through frooird and the weekend for our friends across georgia and the carolinas. northeast florida is still seeing the potential for flash flooding. flash flood emergency from orlando to daytona. we could see several inches of heavy rain in a matter of hours. flash flood emergency now for catastrophic rainfall. we've been talking about the storm surge. that was widespread across southwest florida. now we're talking about rain on saturated ground. we have had so much rain over the last couple weeks in this area that any more rainfall will cause flash flooding. power outages.

over 2 million without power across the state. it will continue for the northeastern and central portion of florida and the area of low pressure move out into the atlantic. water is warm here. we could see strengthening, a minimal hurricane making a second landfall across portions of northeast georgia and south carolina. the storm surge 3 to 5 feet of that depending when high tide s it could be a pretty big deal. very damaging in some of these beach areas, low-lying areas where homes are. so we will be tracking this not only friday but through saturday. slow-moving storm bringing more rain to areas that don't need to see any more and we'll see the threat for tropical storm force winds. hurricane watches in effect for coastal northeast florida and georgia and the carolinas. we aren't done yet and keep you posted from the fox weather center. >> dana: janice dean with the update. >> bill: robert ray is in fort

myers, want to go back to him for what he is seeing now. good morning. >> yes,, here in fort myers downtown and the flooded streets. last night inundated by the storm surge on this body of water that has caused this destruction right here with boats that have been pushed up. some of these vessels very large and just take a look. if rick can zoom in on some of these vessels and see the destruction here. they are pushed around like toys. there is the smell of diesel out here right now, the alarm systems from inside the boats you can hear. you hear the cracking of the wood and the concrete piers that were pushed around. some people assessing this now making sure that they can get on the phone with their insurance agents and see how they can get these boats out of this marina. my goodness, as search and

rescue is going on here, we heard governor ron desantis, he is mobileizing as many people as they can, national guard, first -- the -- i apologize guys, the cajun navy is on the ground and so many others trying to get into the shoreline areas to assess the people that were caught in that incredible storm surge. we are told by officials that there was upwards to 1500 emergency phone calls that came in telling people that they needed help to be escaped and we had clarification about the lee county officials saying about the deaths that it's unclear as to where that number stands right now. they are out as sun is up and the storm has passed here trying to figure out exactly who needs help. an evolving situation. hurricane ian historic and so much damage.

>> bill: terrific work down there. our best to you and the crew. stay safe. >> dana: we want to bring in the deputy commandant for the coast guard. can you give us an assessment? >> yes the top priority is saving lives. in the days leading up to the storm's landfall the coast guard moved all its cutters, aircraft and small boats out of the area so we could be positioned to bring those back in. that's happening right now as we speak. even los angeles night the coast guard has flown some assessments and did some rescues going in here to the morning. we've rescued 23 people so far and expect that to grow. as the day goes on and we're working tightly and closely with state and local emergency responders and the rest of the federal family. >> bill: the governor told us that 19.

are they mostly by boat or helicopter? >> at this point they're mostly by helicopter. just considering what you have shown on fox news in terms of the flooding, from both the storm surge and from the rains, right now the easiest thing to do is from air. although we know that local emergency responders are using boats, shallow boats to do those. the coast guard pre-positioned some shallow water boats as well outside of the storm impacted area. those will be moving in to assist in the lifesaving mission as well. >> dana: the governor also said during the press conference that help is on the way. if you need help to try to be patient, that they've got the calls and they are trying to get through to them. can you elaborate on that in terms of help is on the way. if people here who have a signal and are needing rescue, what should they know? >> well first and fore most people should use the normal means of asking for help, 911.

if they have a vhf radio channel 16 that the coast guard monitors. any means that they can have in order to request for assistance. there should be emergency services listening. not just the coast guard. pre dominantly these initial response comes from state and local authorities. the coast guard does coastal search and rescue. we do inland search and rescue with coordination with the national guards mobilized from surrounding states to assist in the effort. >> bill: this is really important work you're doing right now. can you give us a better idea about how you are locating these individuals? do you see them with your eyes, are they on the rooftop or standing on a road? >> for better or worse the coast guard has experience from hurricane katrina and harvey in houston, texas from doing the

inland search and rescues when cities get flooded. you start doing it by eyeball. you do a very quick search from the air and look and see folks on roofs who need assistance. coordinate through the 911 operation centers to get dispatched where our helicopters and national guard helicopters and other state and local responders can then be vectored in. oftentimes when there is flooding on streets, you need to get a latitude and longitude and cross reference streets which aren't recognizable when communities are flooded in order to move in. >> dana: that's an important point. i take it the magnitude of what you are dealing with and also how can you find the streets since they're flooded? the amount of water that came down. the governor said it was a 500-year historic flood. a last thought in terms of your experience with how big this

hurricane was. >> as a katrina responder and hurricane harvey responder this one is up there in terms of historic nature. what we haven't seen is the combination of massive storm surge from the wind-driven waves and water coming from the ocean and up into the rivers. and just the historic amount of rain in such a short period of time. it is not going to be just search and rescue for the coast guard. we have the evaluate the ports and work with port authorities to open those up so critical goods can arrive by sea when that time comes. >> bill: thank you, sir. really appreciate you sharing what you know for the moment and we'll speak with you a bit later today from the u.s. coast guard. >> dana: thank you. >> bill: a couple things. a lot of the images you are seeing are coming from sanibel island. as the story builds, there will be a greater focus on sanibel. what was he describing about locating people, that camera went in for a moment on a stop

sign. i'm sure the pilot was trying to locate that street as he was trying to describe to us. that is just one observation. the other observation we were on together yesterday afternoon talking about sanibel island. it has an elevation of three feet. when you heard the emergency management director for naples county say we'll need a few more tides to come in before the water gets stabilized. you start to work six hours and 12 hours out and one hours out as the tide goes in and out. sanibel island, there is standing water in just about every picture we've seen on that island. if your elevation is three feet it is clear the storm of ian is well above where it needs to be at this late date. >> dana: if you look bottom right on your screen, sanibel island. the house on fire has been on fire since we came on air. it is a dangerous situation and

more to come. fox hurricane alert here tropical storm ian barreling through orlando. we'll have a live report. we'll be right back. >> oh my god. build a better future. so we're hard at work, helping them achieve financial freedom. we're investing for our clients in the projects that power our economy. from the plains to the coasts, we help americans invest for their future. and help communities thrive. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ are you a veteran, own a home, and need cash? you need to know about the va cash out loan from newday usa. it's called the newday 100 because it lets veterans borrow up to 100% of their home's value. not just 80% like some typical loans. that extra cash can make a huge difference in these times of skyrocketing prices. here's more good news: home values have skyrocketed too. that means even more cash! take out an average of $60,000 to pay down your high-rate credit card debt, consolidate your second mortgage, personal loans, and car loans, and lower your payments by $600 every month. best of all, there are absolutely no upfront out-of-pocket costs with this loan. and even if you have credit concerns, give us a call. the va has granted newday automatic authority to make our own approval decisions. when lenders say no to a veteran, newday can say yes.

bipolar depression. it made me feel trapped in a fog. this is art inspired by real stories of bipolar depression. i just couldn't find my way out of it. the lows of bipolar depression can take you to a dark place. latuda could make a real difference in your symptoms. latuda was proven to significantly reduce bipolar depression symptoms. and in clinical studies, had no substantial impact on weight. this is where i want to be. call your doctor about sudden behavior changes or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. report fever, confusion, stiff or uncontrollable muscle movements, which may be life threatening or permanent. these aren't all the serious side effects.

now i'm back where i belong. ask your doctor if latuda is right for you. pay as little as zero dollars for your first prescription. think he's posting about all that ancient roman coinage? no, he's seizing the moment with merrill. moving his money into his investment account in real time and that's... how you collect coins. your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company.

>> bill: just to give you an idea how massive this storm has been. in video into us from orange county, orlando, florida. hundreds of miles to the northeast from what we've been talking about. that is a rescue of a senior citizen out of a nursing home. don't have a lot of details on that. you imagine if that's one person there had to be many more that needed help to get out there. in the meantime we want to share this image for you near augustine, florida, st. augustine. this is on the far -- not the far but the eastern shore of florida south of jacksonville. you can see the amount of disturbance this storm is kicking up already. the entire state now has been affected by the size of ian and the force of this storm that's moving through for a good ways to come still, dana.

>> dana: let's bring in josh boatwright from the pinellas emergency operation center. what is your assessment this morning? >> here in pinellas county we lifted our evacuation orders an hour ago which affects a large portion of our population that lives in coastal areas. conditions have finally settled down in terms of the storm impact, the wind, the rain, and some limited storm surge that we experienced over the last 24 hours. we fortunately for our area received more tropical storm-force winds being on the north side of the storm but just a couple of days ago we were prepared for a direct hit just like our neighbors to the south. >> bill: josh, will you be able to take any of those assets and help the folks that are just below you 70 to 80 miles?

>> yeah. i know in florida, the local, state and federal level everybody works together. everybody who has been a floridian for a long time knows it's always a possibility for their community even if your community hasn't had a storm like this for a long time it only takes one. in the days ahead i know that a lot of teams from all levels of local, state and federal agencies will be doing mutual aid requests and going down there to try to help as best we can in the recovery efforts in southwest florida now. >> dana: did you have to do any rescuing of people who needed help? >> thankfully we did not. we certainly were prepared for that possibility and we had to let people know when -- during the evacuation if you don't evacuate and conditions get to a certain level it is not possible sometimes during a period of time to get help out because of

how high the winds are. in our case this time we did not have anybody who needed immediate help overnight during the storm. we are out right now assessing damages, but somewhat like hurricane irma a few years ago the last minute the storm took a turn and we experienced more of a tropical storm situation here versus a full-force hurricane. >> bill: would you expect the airport in tampa to even open today? >> i don't have any information at this point about the plans for the airport. i know at every level things are starting to slowly reopen. one of our main bridges off of our pin else yeah, the sunshine skyway bridge reopened because wind speeds are at a safe level. i'm sure at the airport and at every level of our infray structure people are assessing the damage and conditions right now. from the weather standpoint it is becoming safer to move

around. there has been a lot of power outages, downed trees, and other types of damages that can hamper travel for some time. >> dana: josh boatwright, thank you for your time and glad you didn't have more damage there and grateful you can redeploy the assets. >> bill: thank you, josh. we compared charley 18 years ago to ian today. a cat four storm hitting the same down 18 years apart. what are the odds something like that could happen. charley was moving across the state to 20, 25 miles-per-hour. ian is going at eight. eight is better than four but eight is slow. >> dana: the experience level of people in florida. in 2017 hurricane michael was devastating for the panhandle area. it was around right this time of year, right before an election. i remember all of those voting

centers, the place you go to vote, they had to figure it out really quickly. florida is very good at what they do if you are in need of rescue right now, they are assuring you that help is on the way. they just ask you to be a little patient. >> we shared this video of the nursing center, a senior needed help and she is getting that. it's near orlando where brandi campbell is standing by from fox weather. hello again. >> good afternoon or still good morning, guys. it has been a long day for first responders and residents here in florida. right now i'm in kissimmee 30 minutes south of orlando where the fire department, they've been rescuing people. 127 people rescued and taken to a local hospital including ten pets and 17 folks actually taken to the hospital. so you take a look behind me, this is a main road right here.

[inaudible] businesses, also flooded in this area as well. so the fire department they are 40 strong right now still going around checking for residential areas near creeks and any bodies of water. that's where they're more likely to have flooding in the area. the more important thing is the people impacted by this rain, my team says they had eight inches of rain in 24 hours and the winds are howling overnight and still coming in gusts, some very strong, blew off my hat into the water, who knows could be contaminated. we're not sure. the folks are definitely impacted by some water rising even though they're here in the inland part of florida, not on the coast at all. >> bill: you have a ways to go. thank you, brandi campbell, fox weather. we have a great weather system

here. our new department, our new app. they are fantastic and fanned out all over florida covering the storm for us. >> dana: if you are a viewer and seeing your house on fire there, very devastating. a lot of these people did evacuate but still some in need of rescue and asking you to be patient saying help is on the way. >> bill: a live look now fort myers, florida. that was sanibel earlier. our coverage continues as we roll on on the day after here and many more to come. national hurricane center, new numbers out in 35 minutes. we'll have that for you.

veteran homeowners, need cash? with the newday 100 loan, there are no upfront costs for appraisal or termite inspections. no upfront costs at all to get the cash you need. veterans get more at newday. it's the greatest sandwich roster ever assembled. next is the new great garlic. the tender rotisserie style chicken is sublime and the roasted garlic aioli adds a lovely pecan flavor. man, the second retirement really changed you. the new subway series. what's your pick?

hey, i just got a text from my sister. you remember rick, her neighbor? sure, he's the 76-year-old guy who still runs marathons, right? sadly, not anymore. -what, you mean-- -mhm. -just like that. -wow. so sudden. um, we're not about to have the "we need life insurance" conversation again, are we? no, we're having the "we're getting coverage so we don't have to worry about it" conversation. so you're calling about the $9.95 a month plan -from colonial penn? -i am.

we put it off long enough. we are getting that $9.95 plan, today. (jonathan) is it time for you to call about the $9.95 plan? i'm jonathan from colonial penn life insurance company. sometimes we just need a reminder not to take today for granted. it could be the death of someone you know or a health scare. that's why today could be a great day to call for free information about colonial penn's $9.95 plan. if you're age 50 to 85, you can get guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance starting at just $9.95 a month. there are no health questions so you can't be turned down for any health reason. this is permanent coverage. just pay your premiums for lifelong security. the $9.95 plan is colonial penn's number one most popular whole life plan. options start at just $9.95 a month. that's less than 35 cents a day. your rate can never go up. it's locked in for life. don't put it off. take the first easy step. call today for free information.

and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner, so call now. (soft music) ♪ ♪ hello, colonial penn? okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete balanced nutrition for strength and energy. woo hoo! ensure, complete balanced nutrition with 27 vitamins and minerals. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. ♪ ♪ >> bill: we want to go to steve harrigan. we were watching you just off the causeway that goes out to the island of boka grand. what are you seeing and where are you today?

>> we're in charlotte county. if you look behind me here we're seeing complete destruction in a mobile home park. one after the other all the way down the street down the next street. everything gone. i spoke to a man over there. you can see him in his car smoking a cigarette. i said is this where you live? he said it's where i used to live. no more. he said his home cost $25,000. it is a complete loss. he will end up going back to new york. we have people here dealing with complete destruction at this point. as far as any rescue goes or any help or any aid, we haven't seen any movement at all on the ground. communication extremely difficult. people really seemed shell shocked. they're coming out of where they rode the night out. many rented rooms in luxury condos down the street there. they thought they were studier. he man said i loss every but i'm at least alive. people are holding hands and

commiserate as we see over there people asking each other how they survived and how they got through it. now we have seen some helicopters overhead. but we haven't seen much else. you have to wonder when you have street after street of complete destruction like this, is any one inside? so far we haven't seen rescue attempts. we have seen helicopters but keep in mind two things make this very complicated. one, the force of this wind at 150 miles-per-hour plus created a lot of debris all around. getting around is difficult. with the flooding and also with downed trees and downed power lines. so that's been tough. also communication is a real problem as well. cell phone towers are down, phones are down. we're using a star link to get this shot off. it took four engineers to make this happen. at this point i haven't used sat phones since iraq. that's the kind of communication we're dealing with now.

people in crushed houses. no sign of movement or aid in the place where i am and people just stunned walking around looking at what they've gone through over the past 24 hours. back to you. >> bill: steve, hang with us a moment if you can. you are right around gaspirilla sound. you know the sort of luxury homes on the island. it took a direct hit from the category 4 hurricane twice in one years. is it too soon to reflect on the people to look at their bad luck as they wake up this morning? >> you know, the emotion that we're seeing with people who have really stumbled out, whether it's a mobile home or condo, you have rich and poor side-by-side here. you mentioned that marina.

those boats are a stunning picture as well just crushed one on top of the other. but i think the overwhelming emotion here of those who rode it out and still here is they're staggered but they are grateful to be alive. this man here smoking a cigarette and drinking a bush light said i rented a room in the con development i lost everything but i'm not dead and haven't been killed. there is a semblance of gratitude. what we have now is the next few hours will be critical if people are trapped and people are in here, we've got to see some motion, some aid. all we've seen so far are flyovers and there is the first sign of first responders coming in to do a door-to-door check. we are seeing medical aid as well. roads are opening up and we're seeing the initial arrival of first responders in a mobile home park completely devastated here right next to gaspirrila

marina. >> bill: where did you and your crew ride out the night? how far inland from where you are now? >> we're about 1,000 yards from where we are now. it goes to show you if you are in a well-built structure that costs a lot of money you can maybe have a lot better chance than other people. these people in these structures really didn't have a chance. the boats are destroyed, the big yachts are destroyed. the mobile homes are completely crushed and this man said, like you said, we haven't had storms here in a long time. he said i have had a great time and enjoyed my life here for ten years. it got a lot worse quicker than we thought and now people are trying to comfort each other. and i know that aid from 36 plus states is on the way. but in these initial hours, it is really just floridian

comforting floridian and asking do you need a jump start, is your tire flat, do you have water? that's where we're at here. >> dana: it was good to see the emergency vehicles arriving. i'm sure it will be a relief to people there to know that help is definitely on the way. this might not have been possible but have you been able to get either through the drone footage or otherwise aerial view of the damage? >> that's what we're working on really with a crack team right here. we have satellite dishes up and a star link up and a drone team. i think when you see the pictures from overhead of street after street of decimated mobile homes and boats just pilled on top of each other, you will get the real feeling of what 150 mile-per-hour winds have done here. people are suffering from the flooding. the initial blow of wind hit six miles from where i'm standing. in the poorly-built or

lesser-built mobile homes you can see catastrophic destruction street after street. >> dana: steve harrigan. thank you. i'm sure we'll get back to you with this footage. thank you so much. >> bill: we're getting word the governor will brief at 1:45. he mentioned that he was heading down to the southwest of florida. he is going to punta gorda, just a little east of where steve harrigan is reporting. so he is en route and we'll see him and the first lady. >> dana: he wanted to assess the damage himself and get a feel for what's going on on the ground. he will brief at 1:45 p.m.enter let's go to ashley webster in pinellas park, florida. >> listening to steve harrigan's report remarkable. you were asking him about the emotions there. the emotions here further up the coast from fort myers and up say

we got lucky. tampa, st. petersburg was looking like it could take a direct hit. the storm now moved further south and into the fort myers area. i'm in a typical neighborhood pinellas park, a suburb of st. pe petersburg. this is what we're seeing. a big oak tree came down. florida had a lot of rain before hurricane ian turned up on the scene. the root system has been saturated. so it didn't take much as far as winds to topple these things over. that's exactly what happened here. thankfully it fell toward the street and not the home behind me. it also gives you a sense of 70 miles-an-hour winds can do this. i can't imagine 155 miles-per-hour. it boggles the mind.

the weather will improve as the day goes on. further to the north and east orlando suffering with heavy rain just coming to an end there. the water rescues are going on. i think it's the water and flooding that is proving to be something very devastating. something that the governor ron desantis said is something we haven't seen in a long time. take a listen. >> the amount of water that has been rising and likely continue to rise today even as the storm is passing is basically a 500-year flood event. the storm is having broad impacts across the state and some of the flooding you'll see in areas hundreds of miles from where this made landfall will set records. >> and police and utility workers are out clearing up the debris here and another sign that things are improving, the tampa international airport could reopen later today.

we're waiting for a statement on that. bill and dana, back to you. >> bill: thank you, ashley. much more to get to. stand by. we have national hurricane center numbers in 21 minutes. i mentioned the governor coming up in 1:45 eastern time. there is a lot to get to on what has been a devastating day for our friends in florida. back in a moment as our coverage continues. 80% of couples sleep too hot or too cold. because quality sleep is vital, the sleep number 360 smart bed is temperature balancing, so you both stay cool. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night.

save 40% on the sleep number 360 special edition smart bed.now only $1499. only for a limited time.

psoriasis really messes with you. 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 cosentyx. 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®. california, mountains, oceans, natural wonders, diverse and creative people. but when the out-of-state corporations behind prop 27 look at california, they see nothing but suckers. they wrote prop 27 to give themselves 90% of the profits from online sports betting in california. other states get much more. why is prop 27 such a suckers deal for california? because the corporations didn't write it for us.

they wrote it for themselves.

>> bill: we've been warned the threat from ian far from over. it continues to slam florida and you see the water on the road and the wind moving to the east coast right now. jonathan serrie is on the ground in atlantic beach, florida. far from fort myers. how are conditions and what are you going through? >> hi, bill. it is blustering. heavy winds and behind me you can see the heavy surf. the public beach has been closed as a precaution. they don't want people even risking going in the water because of the heavy rip currents. they don't want people on the beach just because of the chance of heavy waves washing over. you can see a berm of sand that heavy equipment came in trying to shore up the public beach access here to keep the water out. so far so good. but the winds are really picking up.

in nearby flagler county at least one municipality is telling people to conserve water, limit their use of non-essential water consumption such as showers, recreational water use, watering lawns, things like that to conserve a limited supply of freshwater. here you can see the palm trees blowing around in neighboring clay county. they've issued mandatory evacuations along the st. john's river. so the concern is not just ocean flooding, but also freshwater flooding, a combination of storm surge and heavy rains potentially affecting the atlantic coast of florida. i'm in duvall county. there are no mandatory evacuations here. however, the mayor of jacksonville is urging people in low-lying areas, including these coastal communities and beach areas, but also in portions of downtown jacksonville that

flooded during hurricane irma in 2017 to protect their property and most important their lives. back to you. >> bill: from one corner of the state to the other. thank you, atlantic beach in florida. >> dana: president biden on wednesday warning oil and gas companies not to use hurricane ian as an excuse to raise energy prices. for a look at political fallout from the devastating storm let's bring in bret baier. the president said that yesterday. the oil and gas industry is saying we don't do that. we don't condone it when individual shops do that. but that is out there as well as is the overall assessment of the storm. we know that you know florida well and you love that part of the state, southwest florida especially naples. tell us your thoughts this morning. >> first of all, i checked with all my folks and everybody is okay down there. but there is a lot of devastation and a lot of water

and really a concern over the next couple of days especially naples. a politically interesting time ahead of a mid-term. the president went after the oil and gas possibilities in raising gas prices. it doesn't look like it's tied directly. the gas industry put out a statement right away. president bush wrote about 2005 and hurricane katrina and the fallout being a really politically tough moment as he had that picture flying over the devastation and he said that was a tough moment for him. he seemed disconnected. one of the things that happened there was local and state authorities were not up to the task, either. so the coordination didn't work from a federal, state and local level. in florida they have a lot of experience here. talked to senator scott, former governor scott. there is a system that they've been through this many, many times. governor desantis is now in

charge of that system and the effectiveness of being able to deal with some of these areas really hard hit plays into it as the ability of that state to really meet the moment. >> dana: one of the big issues in new orleans in 2005 local shorts refused to push for an evacuation order. the governor of florida. >> yes. >> dana: governor desantis wasted no time. you can see a very good cohesive team in florida keeping the public informed. the governor gave a press conference this morning and another at 1:45 after he surveys more damage. >> i think that we'll find out how bad this is in the next few hours. we're already starting to see some of it. the floodwaters are really the biggest issue here along that southwest florida, naples, fort myers, that area. some of those places are under

water. >> bill: they call it a marathon event for good reason. what we've seen thus far it's tough to take. when we talk about political leadership go back 20 years and think what jeb bush dealt with. i think florida had three hurricanes in a row one time under jeb bush's leadership. he was out there and chucking ice bags to people who needed them. when people see that, they appreciate it, bret. >> that's true. it will be interesting to see how president biden handles this moment. we saw what he said yesterday about gas prices. does he go down there? does he, you know, get in the mix of state and local authorities usually don't want that big focus right away because they are dealing with trying to save people and trying to make sure everybody is okay. but those images are lasting and they are lasting in a situation like this. >> dana: as you said we'll get a lot more information especially

what steve harrigan showed us where he was in charlotte county. bret, thank you. >> all right. >> dana: we have a live look here at st. augustine not far from where jonathan serrie was. the waves are coming right up. we'll have more in a moment. >> that's our deck. that was my house. my house is gone. no, he's seizing the moment with merrill. moving his money into his investment account in real time and that's... how you collect coins. your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪

>> tech: when you have auto glass damage... choose safelite. we can come to you and replace your windshield. >> grandkid: here you go! >> tech: wow, thank you! >> customer and grandkids: bye! >> tech: bye! don't wait, schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ if you have medicare and medicaid, a unitedhealthcare dual complete plan can give you extra benefits at no cost to you.

like up to $150 for covered over-the-counter items and groceries every month. with unitedhealthcare dual complete... ...there's more for you.

>> dana: an air force pilot who flew through the eye of the hurricane said it was the worst flight of his entire career. he had a reconnaissance mission to collect data on the storm. >> i will be honest with you. i've been on some scary flights in my life but not that bad. i went to the top of my seat belt, shot back down. it was elevator drop at a disney world type thing. the elevator drops.

we had that multiple times. it would not end. it continued for about five minutes. nobody is talking, just the pilots flying now. >> dana: incredible. a sense of the scope and scale of this storm when a pilot like that will tell you it is the worst of his career. >> bill: americans will show your generosity in times of crisis working around the clock to get much-needed relief. the president of global empowerment mission, michael, what are you doing, what do you need, how can people help? >> we have been preparing for this for about a week now working in partnership with dade county and the state of florida. we amass supplies in a partnership with -- [inaudible] >> dana: might have lost michael there. >> bill: driving in a vehicle trying to -- >> dana: i assume the signals are difficult to keep. he had supplies taking to maybe some food bank areas where

people are going to need supplies. one of the things the governor said earlier in his press conference is they have plenty of supplies but they need -- what they are looking for if you are able to help, is to donate money. michael, are you back with us now? >> hello. >> dana: hi, good to have you back with us. you were saying you have been preparing for a week. what will you be doing with what you have? >> yes, so we amass all the supplies from all these incredible corporations and private donors throughout the united states. 80,000 square feet of warehouse space and we truck the supplies from miami to this region. so today we are establishing things are private churches and in fort myers now. those will be supplies and we work to supply the government shelters right now with more goods that they need including bringing in thousands of tarps,

which are needed. this is our home state so this really hits home for us. this is absolute catastrophe. like the katrina of florida. by far the worst thing that florida has had to deal with in years and years. so we're devastated and doing everything we can. we are pooling all our resources. this will be a very long-term response here. today and the next few days is emergency supplies but then you have to shift to so many different stages. everybody's homes are under water. in the best case scenario people got three feet of water in their homes and all their furniture is destroyed and all electrical outlets and appliances. worst case there is no more roofs on homes and total destruction. it is very widespread. all the coastal towns that our teams have seen are completely

destroyed which is like hurricane michael. >> bill: good luck to you. give us a website quick, we have to run. so people can help. >> global empowerment mission.org is where you can support it. really need your support. >> dana: thank you for all you are doing. we'll have more on this all day long. the governor will brief at 1:45. harris faulkner is next. >> harris: fox news weather alert. incredible video pouring into us now via the few first hours of daylight. thi this is sanibel island that took a direct hit. ian is the fifth most powerful hurricane to make landfall in the united states. ian staying in tact right now but downgraded to a tropical storm. the enemy from the now tropical storm in florida right now i