w blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto for heart failure. entrust you heart to entresto. >> dana: south carolina bracing for a revived hurricane ian. the category 1 storm a couple hours from landfall there. after leaving a devastating path of destruction across florida. new images show all of this to us. florida officials now say at least 21 people are dead. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom."enter i'm dana perino. that's not the news we wanted to have. >> bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning. forecasters predicting life threatening storm surge along the coast of south carolina and georgia into north carolina and northeast florida continues. here is what we believe we know. the governor is telling us 700 have been rescued so far. primarily in charlotte and lee

counties. that's along the gulf of mexico, southwest corner we pointed out a moment ago. you have 40,000 linemen on the ground. they will need them in order to restore power. >> dana: they have restored power to a significant portion already. it is impressive the work they've done. there is a long way to go. 14,000 people in shelters. also a call for everybody to make sure they are being very smart in using their generators in order to protect people from any problems there and from electrocution and also from carbon monoxide. follow those instructions very, very carefully. >> bill: we are tracking ian and get back to that in a moment. we listened to governor desantis. >> 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 stayed there, did not evacuate. and that was the case at sanibel as well. as you mentioned, you can't get in or out of sanibel unless you have a boat or helicopter right now. there are helicopters flying pretty much non-stop. power is out. 85% of the entirety of lee county. everybody who stuck around has no water from their tap. they better have cases of bottled water. and they have no power whatsoever. sailboats and sport fishing yachts litter this area. the marina is a total disaster. the death toll is 21 according to the state. most of those are still unconfirmed. the sheriff's department and other leaders believe they will

likely find bodies but they know on sanibel island at least 200 residences were occupied during the storm. they think multiple people were there. that's where they are thinking they may find more grim news as they continue the search and rescue operation. >> dana: phil keating, thank you so much. >> bill: this is pine island that the governor referred to in the sound bite. it has to be entirely rebuilt and sanibel island has to be rebuilt as well. sanibel island here. this is where you see that road where it just fell in. during the last briefing they heard there is a lot of road damage. it is in several locations. what the mayor of sanibel said a moment ago the operations they have now to bring boats out and help people bring them supplies, 200 homes she believes it's 200 homes. she continues to get text messages. that number could change. 200 homes decided to stay there on sanibel island. you have to think the boats have

to come out and get everybody out of the homes. if you won't have power or electricity a tough way to live. this is fort myers beach here south of downtown. the reason why we point this island out is because this image here. this was fort myers beach before wednesday afternoon and this is largely what looks to me a pretty fancy rv park. a lot of structures are made of aluminum. you see what happens when a cat four storm comes and stays for hours with winds packing 140, 150 miles-per-hour. the aluminum scatters. it looks like a tornado more than a hurricane. i see all these structures have been ripped apart. these homes here on stilts are still standing. this homemade of brick is still standing as well. they took the brunt of it in that area here. we talked about fort myers, this

is a harbor area, a lot of boats. this is the before and after picture. no chance, everything goes inland and with the wind. this is fort myers beach on what you would consider to be an idyllic southwestern florida day, pre-storm ian and this is what you have at the moment. you have structures still standing. all of the debris goes for miles. that's what the florida governor was talking about. you need the federal money to help clear out the debris. a lot of counties have it already. a good sign from washington, d.c. and the level of cooperation we're seeing. ian is out there. you hear about charleston today and myrtle beach and little islands like sunset beach across the border in north carolina. i know very well. i have been going there since i've been that big. we hope the best for the folks here still in the path of a category 1 storm. >> dana: such a pretty part of the country. devastating for them to have to deal with it. as florida comes to grips with record devastations groups are

helping to prepare for what's to come. general scott spelman from the army core of engineers joins us now. they are trying to get the -- figure out what's going on with the water in some of those counties. what can you tell us this morning. >> first i want to say thanks for having us on the program this morning and i would start out by saying on behalf of the 37,000 men and women of the army corps of engineers our hearts go out to the people of puerto rico, florida and now north carolina and south carolina who have been impacted by this extreme weather. we will be working around the clock with federal partners, certainly our great state partners to help these families and communities get on their feet again. you have been reporting on the extensive coastal damages. we are focused on coastal but inland flooding will remain with us for the next several days. the st. john's river by jacksonville will reach a crest this weekend and remain in major

flood stage for the next several days. much the same with the peace river by tampa. these are slow-draining watersheds. the heavy precipitation you reported on earlier south of orlando, it takes three weeks for that water to travel down the river where it is stored in the lake. it will take time for water the drain out of central florida and it will impact everyone's efforts. we encourage everyone please be safe. follow the guidance of your elected leaders and local emergency management officials. we want everyone to be safe in this response. >> bill: that's a great explanationment standing water two days later. thank you for that. when you look at that structure for the causeway bridge that goes to sanibel island and you think about other hurricanes this hit the gulf of mexico and devastated interstate 10 that runs east and west. how long does it take to rebuild bridges like that? >> we'll know more after the structural engineers look at this with the florida department

of transportation. the answer in question, if you have two good abutments to work with you can get up a span to pass traffic in a couple of weeks. if there are challenges with the abutments it could be a much longer solution. we'll stay engaged with the experts, with the great team in florida to get to a rapid solution. >> dana: what about for people who are finding themselves without running water in their homes or businesses right now? >> we're experiencing that now in lee county. earlier bill showed an arrow going up the river. before the tidal gauges went out we believe we had a 16 foot storm surge going up the river and that's what is impacting the water supply in lee county. when you have a storm search of that magnitude it creates a -- the water has run out of the system. local officials are recharging the tanks as we speak. when those are filled we'll turn

on the valve and work with our partners to try to find the leak and get to a solution as wick as possible as well. >> bill: general, this is a major operation and it will take some time to heal this part of our country. and it's really good to know that you have the ability and the capacity to take care of people. that's really extraordinary. our hats off to you. >> thank you. we have 400 of our best experts from across the country in florida working with the fabulous state partners to get after these many challenges that will be with us in the days and weeks ahead. >> bill: good luck. we'll be in touch with your team. >> thank you. >> dana: very interesting for that causeway so that you could build a temporary span if the two ends that abut the bridge are stable, then you will be able to see something in a couple of weeks. if not, it could be much longer. >> bill: a little hope in the moment. we're still on this story. still on this storm as it moves onshore in the carolinas. we have had a devastating story

in new york. new york city's crime crisis has gone to a horrifying new low. an emt responded to the world trade center attack on 9/11 stabbed to death yesterday in an unprovoked attack. the latest on that investigation today. >> dana: as the mid-terms approach a key senate race in wisconsin is heating up. we have a look at the latest polls where ron johnson is right now in the race rising. >> latest on the white house response to hurricane eon. the he have devastation, northeastern florida. he is looking for more money to help them. we'll see whether or not that comes coming up. >> they are 1.9 million people. customers without power right now the hardest hit areas are hardy, 99% without power as of this morning. ts for appraisal or termite inspections.

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>> bill: more stunning scenes destruction across florida this morning. hurricane ian's first landfall. this new video showing how hard that storm surge hit fort myers. we talked about it being eight feet or ten feet. maybe it was taller at times. you see the palm trees get buried. water rising in some cases 15 feet high. you can see that structure right there is giving way and going very soon. this is from yesterday now as it shows on the screen from fort myers. entire home off its foundation. the force of the water ripping the home apart. when the water finally goes down almost nothing has been left behind. we have seen some helicopter images from earlier today. some of the foundations of these homes are the only thing that's left and the sand that sits beneath it. >> dana: we keep getting new

images. we had some from orange county as well. standing water will be a problem. it will stay around as our last guest said it could be three weeks before that water gets down. >> dana: with the mid-term elections it's harder to hit the pause button on politics. that's continuing on across the country. aishah hosni following this part of the story out of washington for us. hi. >> good morning to you. no surprise here. it was evident at president biden's visit to fema headquarters when politics reared its head at a briefing about the hurricane. a reporter asked biden about his relationship with governor ron desantis who as we all know is a potential 2024 rival. just trying to maintain the focus on managing a natural disaster. watch this. >> president biden: it's totally irrelevant but i'll answer it, okay? very fine.

this is not about whether anything having to do with our disagreements politically. this is about saving people's homes, lives and businesses. >> desantis has tried to push back on questions that are political. the storm could change the way the candidates in florida campaign in this final 38-day sprint. they will have to contend with the fact that mail-in ballots go out next week and many people in florida are displaced and the moral question of campaigning during a natural disaster. here is what louisiana senator said actually let's talk about this first. democrats charlie crist and representative val deeming suspended political ads and desantis and senator marco rubio were reportedly still running ads during the storm. former governor jeb bush said campaigns should shift to helping floridians while others like john kennedy from louisiana

who served through countless hurricanes say just leave it to the individual. >> that's up to the candidates. we have had a couple hurricanes in louisiana, and to -- i don't think i've ever run an ad. i've always pulled most of my ads but that's up to the candidates. >> we're seeing candidates in florida switching their campaigns gears towards raising money and supplies for these for the victims. >> bill: where voters stand on two critical senate races. in wisconsin, the incumbent republican ron johnson facing a re-election challenge from mandela barnes. mark kelly is looking to fend off republican challenger blake masters. there is still a lot of uncertainty in the pennsylvania senate race between lieutenant governor john fetterman and dr.

mehmet oz. fox new sunday anchor shannon bream. good morning to you. i want to show the viewers at home first wisconsin. this is good news for ron johnson. let's just put it out there. 48-44. quite a change from some polling back in august. here is arizona, blake masters had been trailing. he still trails mark kelly by a thinner margin. pennsylvania, fetterman and oz, so much national attention. that race has tightened. what do you make of that as the voters start to think about their choices? >> it seems that polling always gets tighter including on the generic congressional ballots for the house and that kind of thing. it tightens up as you get closer to having to make a decision. it is interesting when we break down likely voters who those who say they are absolutely going to vote. tightening between those two groups. people have decisions to make.

you guys know in a lot of states they're starting early voting or will happen really soon. voters in some of these cases without having had a debate between the candidates. you think about pennsylvania where that is such a heated race, there are votes already going to be happening and being cast long before the debates ever happen. people have having to make a decision, all of these races are tightening. the candidates have a sprint to the finish line a few weeks left to make their case. >> dana: what about the messaging and tactics that are working for republicans who have been able to close some of these gaps? >> what seems to be working for them is the message on the economy and on crime. democrats are trying to take back some of that messaging on the issue of crime. they have been targets for you guys were for defunding the police, changing the way we handle things in our communities. in every major city run by democrats having huge crime spikes in all kinds of categories. so that's been a goodwining

message for republicans. democrats are trying to fight and say you are misconstruing what we said. individual candidates about defunding the police. they are fighting back and won't concede and democrats are pushing hard trying to bring former president trump into the headlines. he has been there and pushing on the issue of abortion and abortion access. those are the issues if play. every poll shows that the economy is still the first thing voters care about. >> bill: dana and i were doing a deep dive the other day. kind of the way we operate here, nerds. go back to arizona and pennsylvania. what struck us, the undecideds in arizona are 15%. bottom right-hand corner of the graphic. pennsylvania, let's show this. undecideds in pennsylvania are 11%. there is a lot of people out there who are either not telling the truth or they are truly up for grabs in this final month. >> i talked to a top republican yesterday. he has all those polls plus

internal polling and feeling confident there is a chance republicans can hold onto the senate and they very much believe, as many pollsters and pundits do, people are not completely honest with folks who call them up and ask them who they are voting for on the phone. we've seen it be an achilles heel for a lot of polling in the last couple of cycles. i think republicans are holding onto the cautiously optimistic hope there is a point or two based on people's unwillingness to be truthful with pollsters. >> dana: it's why they spend money on ads to move them from undecided to decided. what is coming up on sunday? >> we'll be focused on ian across the states that are impacted. talk to the fema director. to talk about the federal government can and is doing to help people. georgia governor brian kemp is joining us and invited stacey

abrams. i think she will join us soon to talk about the mid-terms, the final messaging. he is not only in a tough race but there is a tough senate race there as well. foreign policy, too. >> dana: thank you, shannon. have a good day. >> see you sunday. >> dana: grim images coming in from florida just now. search and rescues still underway in fort myers. some areas have been left unrecon nuysable. officials say it could be weeks or months before we get a full at of ian's destruction. we'll be right back. >> this is by far the worst character i've ever been a part of. the biggest event that we've ever had in the history of the state of florida as the worst of catastrophic losses. catastrophic losses. buying a car from vroom is so easy,

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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®. >> bill: hurricane ian made landfall and historic storm dropping catastrophic damages on

northeastern florida up the east coast. jonathan serrie is northeast of jacksonville. how have they done? >> right now things have cleared up considerably. people returning to the beach. i see a few surfers out in the water. but what a difference a day makes. even though we're on the opposite coast of where this storm made landfall, ian unleashed heavy rains and winds both in central florida and also here in the northeastern part of the state. take a look at this video from vel oesch yeah county. two deaths. a 67-year-old man fell and unable to get up before floodwaters rose over him and a 72-year-old man who fell into a canal behind his home during the storm. deputies checked on vehicles and made sure no one was trapped inside and helped evacuate several residents stranded in

homes surrounded by rising floodwaters. in nearby clay county, deputies rescued a man who fell off a boat in the st. john's river. authorities say conditions on the river were tumultuous but unclear whether that or a medical condition caused the man to fall overboard listed in critical condition at a local hospital. the storm's impacts were not just felt on the coast. well inland ian dumped heavy amounts of rain causing rivers, streams and ponder to overflow. the home video shows several inches of water flowing into an apartment unit in orlando. in another part of that city residents used a kayak to navigate a street that floodwaters had transformed into a river. even on roads that are still passable like this street in downtown st. augustine authorities are urging people to avoid driving through floods so they don't create wakes that push more water into people's homes and businesses.

bill, crews are still busy cleaning away fallen trees and debris that this storm knocked into roadways. so they are urging people to avoid any non-essential travel because there are still some road hazards out there. bill, back to you. >> bill: keep us posted throughout the day. >> dana: moving southwest let's go to fox weather robert ray in hard-hit fort myers, florida. we talked to you last hour and now you are on one of the big boats that got pushed up onto land. >> indeed, dana. i just talked to the yacht broker who had just sold this boat for about $350,000, he said. the boat next to it was contingent for $650,000. it is a mess with the logistics and insurance and what will ensue with these deals and brokers that all these things that they have done here. you see the mess behind me. all these boats. they're on roadsides all the way down to the barrier island of

fort myers beach where search and rescue is going on actively there right now devastated. as governor ron desantis said in a press conference last hour this area is ground 0 for hurricane ian in the state of florida. we'll continue to monitor this. confirmed 21 dead. choppers above and folks starting to take debris from their homes and put them to the side in compartments as the officials have told them to do. in the meantime you see behind me this is what people are seeing and dealing with and business is super affected right now. >> dana: the clearing has begun. you have to start somewhere and they are starting there today. thank you so much, robert. >> bill: also in the area where robert is reporting fort myers, florida. lee county officials evacuating hundreds of patients and staff members since the storm made landfalls. facilities dealing with power

outages and disruption in the water supply is an ongoing matter. lee health is here. thank you for your time. how can we help and get the word out there and what do you need? >> thank you, bill. as you know we've been hit with a devastating storm. our health systems provides 95% of the hospital care in this community of over 700,000. although our facilities have withheld well in the storm the challenge we face now is infray structure. two of our hospitals have no running water. as a result we're having to evacuate them. our first phase will be 400 patients. we began that process last night. so it is a very challenging situation. we certainly cannot run a hospital without running water. it is not only do we utilize water for routine care and dialysis, etc. , it operates our chillers for our air conditioning units and our fire

suppression. so as a result, we have done a lot of gerry rigging and been able to pull water out of lakes and ponds to be able to drive the coolers. we have been working with our agency for healthcare administration to begin the evacuation process. until we know we have a stable water supply to our hospitals we cannot operate them safely. >> dana: we had the army corps of engineers on last hour and he said their number one priority is trying to figure out the water situation in lee county. a question about the staff you have. i imagine they have been working for several days straight with very little sleep and no running water as you said. >> the staff challenges are very real. in an incident like this we usually have two teams. team a and b. team a works 12 hour shifts each until conditions are safe for team b to come in.

we brought team b in yesterday. one of the challenges we had was contacting our team b members. we're off the grid here. cell service is spotty if at all. cable service, internet. it has been a real challenge. we have had to keep a lot of team a members in our facilities and they are just doing incredible work, heroic work and i couldn't be more proud of the staff and the work they're doing under these incredible conditions. they are worried about their own families and homes. >> bill: hang tough. thank you for your time. lee health president and ceo. thank you, sir. >> dana: fox corporation has donated $1 million to the american red cross to support hurricane ian relief efforts. the red cross is on the ground providing aid and resources including shelter, meals, medical supplies and more for people who have been impacted by the storm. fox is also double matching employee donations to red cross

hurricane relief efforts including ian and fiona. we're with other fox employees in the area and everyone affected by storm. thank you to all our fox weather, fox news channel and teams across the country covering this disaster. you are appreciated. >> bill: amen to that. meanwhile we move up the coast. myrtle beach, south carolina, category 1 storm lurking off shore. the pier 14 restaurant is a white-out in the distance. we'll let you know how ian goes. this storm is still alive and kicking in a significant way. back here in a moment as our back here in a moment as our coverage continues . back here in a moment as our covit'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!

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>> bill: america's crime crisis claiming the life of one of new york city's bravest. a 24 year fire department veteran stabbed to death in a random attack. lieutenant all son russo eling. six months from retirement. attacked near her station house. what a story, david lee. >> what a tragedy. 61-year-old ems lieutenant was not only a veteran of the department but a world trade center first responder.

she lost her life in what the acting fire commissioner has called a barbaric and unprovoked attack. police have arrested a suspect and charged him with murder. it was caught on surveillance camera video that we won't show. on that recording she is seen on a street out to get lunch yesterday afternoon appears to talk to a man out of frame. as she walks away the man approaches holding a knife. she false backwards and stabbed more than 20 times in a matter of seconds. the man walks away. suddenly starts to run. cops say a good samaritan helped in his capture. >> two eyewitnesses who knew the perpetrator. members of the hostage negotiating team and emergency service unit were able to talk this person out of the apartment. >> a woman called the attacker a

loner and weird. a history of mental illness. lieutenant russo saved many lives. her death outraged the city she served. >> to be attacked and killed in the course of helping others is both heartbreaking and enrageing for our department in ways i cannot describe. lieutenant russo exemplified ems and fdny ems. she have is survived by her parents and a daughter. >> bill: a tragedy. >> dana: hurricane ian off the coast of south carolina. a look at myrtle beach. ian is expected to make landfall in a couple of hours. the mayor of myrtle beach joins us now and how do you assess your situation right now, bend yeah? >> well good morning. it is definitely picking up, the

wind and rain coming in in heavier bands. we're prepared for the storm and the after math. >> bill: how many people decided to stay versus those who hit the road? >> well, we did not have mandatory evacuation. i really can't answer that question. i will say that governor mcmaster has been so great about reaching out to all of the communities, the area mayors, counties that will be affected by this and as always, he offers his support has done such a great job of keeping in touch with us. as far as mostly everyone has continued to stay. thankfully we will not get hit any where near as hard as florida did. so our hearts and prayers go out

to them. >> dana: brenda, i assume this is not your first rodeo when it comes to hurricanes. what are you prepared to do immediately after the storm clears out? >> well, our crews are on standby to get out and start with the cleanup as well as help other communities that may not have the resources that we do. one of the main things they did before the storm was to lower the levels in our retention ponds so hopefully we won't have issues with flooding like some of the neighboring areas may. we are ready. everyone is on standby with equipment and ready to not only clean up our own community but help others. >> bill: different parts of florida a water event. other areas a wind event. what is your best guess there, water or wind for myrtle beach? >> i think the wind will affect myrtle beach more than the water because we have such a great

drainage system and we have prepared for that. we know we are going to get strong gusts. there will be some minor damage. we don't expect there to be major damage. but we are ready for whatever comes. >> dana: brenda, it is a beautiful part of the state and a lot of people here have family there or vacation there and we certainly wish you the best. thank you so much for being with us today. >> thank you. thank you for your generous donation to the red cross. >> dana: the red cross does amazing work and we are proud to work for a company that would take that immediate action and the employee double match is pretty exciting, too. we'll get on top of that. thank you so much. >> bill: thank you, mayor. people are not the only victims of hurricane ian. there are pets up and down the coast. the coast guard rescuing a dog from the floodwaters. check that out. a private group that's coming to the aid of many and we'll talk to the person heading that up.

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>> dana: autopsy confirms a memphis mother and teacher who went missing died from a gunshot wound to the back of her head. fletcher was on an early morning run when she was kidnapped and forced into a car. her body was found after a day's long search near the university of memphis campus. the suspect faces first degree murder and kidnapping charges. >> bill: a group of florida cowboys helping search and rescue records after ian. they rescued a man whose car was sinking near naples on the gulf coast. they were on waters world with jesse to tell him about it last night. give this a listen. >> he was distraught. he had no idea what was going on. we really felt bad for him. he tried to get out. he didn't have enough power to get out of the car.

the water was pressing on the car. we were able to jam it open and get him out. >> bill: the cowboys carried the man through waist deep water to dry land and he is now safe and sound. good work done. >> dana: i love that jesse had them on last night. >> bill: good looking hats. >> dana: great looking cowboys. i would want to be rescued by them. call them up. put their number in my phone. a mission of mercy for some of the most vulnerable victims of hurricane ian. a group based in columbus, georgia are stepping up taking animals from several shelters in florida. josh mcqueen is with the paws humane society. who do you have there, josh? >> good morning. this is actually buc, we named him after the tampa bay buccaneers. >> dana: he is six days old with a bow tie on. he has manners like a southern gentleman. tell me about your organization. what were you trying to do before the storm got to shore?

>> we were contacted by florida urgent rescue based in jacksonville, florida and we put in action a plan to rescue as many animals as possible from the path of hurricane ian and they stepped up and handled transportation and we were able to get animals out of several counties in florida and deliver them and we were able to have the space to rescue up to 39 animals from the destructive path. >> bill: what kind? 39 total? >> we had 33 cats and able to pull in six dogs. of the dogs, it was a mother dog and four puppies. at the time this all took place within a 24-hour period starting monday morning and the puppies were just three days old. this was one of the puppies included. >> dana: it has to be so bewildering for an animal caught

in a hurricane where the owners couldn't take them to a shelter. those rescues are ongoing and it breaks the heart but warms the heart as well. these animals you have rescued, are they up for adoption and how does that happen? >> yeah, absolutely. they are a little too young to be adopted now. many will go into foster homes. we have a foster program where volunteers within our community foster the animals until they're old enough to be adopted into their forever homes. >> bill: do you expect to take in more? it's still early days, isn't it? >> yeah. our efforts are two-fold. not only are we able to rescue the animals from florida before the storm, but it creates space for the newly displaced animals that are still in the path and that are displaced from the after math of the storm. so there are many more lives

being saved. hopefully we can step up in the future to save more lives. >> dana: what can you do with cash donations that come into your organization? >> well, obviously with the influx of animals that we have, the medical care, food and supplies provided to the animals as well as the staff and volunteers. there is an extra cost that we have and with all the animals -- all the extra stuff, the cost is in the thousands. so any donations are much and greatly appreciated. definitely any one can go to our website to make a donation to our rescue. >> dana: josh, thank you for what you do and enjoy holding onto that little puppy there. >> i'll soak him in. >> dana: he won the lottery with you. thanks. >> bill: good story. thank you. want to get back to ian on the

ground north of myrtle beach watching the pier 14 restaurant, dana. a moment ago you couldn't see past the pier itself. we can see the bands start whipping around. we talked to the mayor a moment ago in myrtle beach. a lot of folks stayed there despite the strength of ian coming onshore hundreds of miles to the south and west. we were told earlier today the official numbers at the moment, they have one confirmed fatality in polk county, florida. 12 unconfirmed fatalities in charlotte county south of there and another eight unconfirmed in collier county and trying to sort through the numbers. >> dana: the medical examiner needs to get there but they have some reports but they don't have the equipment yet to be able to get in and to do more investigation. that's happening right now. and kevin guthrie is the head of

the emergency management in florida who joined the governor at 9:00 a.m. with an incredible briefing with lots of information. we carried it live here and we'll continue to update you throughout the day on all of our fox news platforms. >> they've rescued 700 so far. the effort continues. we'll say a prayer today and into the weekend for the folks in florida. >> dana: "the faulkner focus" is up next. here she is. >> harris: fox weather alert we're getting an idea how deadly hurricane ian was in florida. updates on that and at least one county a current hospital having to evacuate, a couple of them in lee county as utilities are failing for freshwater. at this hour south carolina will see ian next. it is back to hurricane status after weakening a bit moving north and east from coast to coast across the florida peninsula and no