phone number is # 239-313- -- 239-213-3000 on the bottom of the end screen. rachel: we have the best weather coverage. will: with wishing everybody the best, we'll try to keep you update throughout the day. that's going to do it for pus. rachel: bye, everybody. ♪ >> another hurricane force gust coming in here to downtown fort myers. [background sounds] oh! >> this was part of a street season, colonial boulevard, which is four-lane highway next to me -- [background sounds] >> look at the mailboxes.

they were covered, water over the mailboxes. >> i need you to get up in there, and i'm going to hand her to you, and and you've got to hold her. [background sounds] >> i'm surrounded here by stress is els that were in this marina, tossed around really like tinker toys. >> that was my house. my house is gone. >> a lot of people can say that today here, lost everything. neil: an incredible week, and it's not over. just some of the incredible images we've seen throughout this week brought on by a pretty ruthless hurricane ian. many southwest florida homes leveled and communities destroyed. more than three dozen lives lost and now warnings of a potential levee break that could cause a 15-foot surge. in the carolinas, some similar scenes. hundreds of thousands still in

the dark there as they try to assess the havoc caused by ian. we're following it all with nate foy in myrtle beach, south carolina, alexandria hoff in hard-hit fort myers, florida, and ache -- rick reich newt -- reichmuth. a storm that's still not over and still raising questions and collar signs no matter where it hits. good to have you. let's go first to nate foy in south carolina, the target of yesterday's assault. nate. >> reporter: neil, good morning. the damage certainly could have been worse, but there was significant damage here in myrtle beach. the cleanup happening rapidly this morning. you see some debris here that got washed ashore and in this business area from 85 mile-an-hour winds as the storm hit as a category one hurricane. you see multiple backhoes, crews out all morning clearing sand and debris from the roadway. but take a look, you can see, obviously, there's damage, but the water has receded back into

the ocean. the ocean is just around this building here. i want to show you some video from yesterday afternoon where exactly where i'm standing right now was totally underwater. take a look. there's a nearby amusement park that was flooded out with these rushing waters, four and a half, a little bit over four and a half peat of storm surge in this area, a popular part of or myrr. you see strong waves during the peak of the storm yesterday afternoon. a shrimp boat had four people on it, police tell us two initially refused to leave but all four eventually evacuated. we're going to show you that shrimp boat coming up in the 11:00 hour. it's still on the beach this morning but, thankfully, all four of those people are safe. if now take a look at this, neil. you're watching pieces of the cherry grove pier breaking apart into the ocean. again, strong winds of 85 miles an hour, a total of four piers

are destroy, the first of -- destroyed, the paris of which about 20 miles south of where we are right now, which brings us to our final video, take a look. this was right by the pol hi's a-- polly's island pier. you see a woman taking her kayak out into flooded streets which is something that officials ask you not to do. they're very busy x they don't need any more work than is necessary. back out here live, neil, about two blocks over my shoulder there were four people trapped in an apartment building as water was flush -- rushing into the first floor, and the fire department rescued all four of those people. certainly a scary situation, but when you compare it to what happened in southwest florida, talking to people here, they feel very fortunate. back to you, neil. neil: thank you, international airport. rick reichmuth right now on what ian is doing now. rick: yeah, a cat one and a cat four, obviously, both can cause a lot of damage but cat fowrk

obviously, we've seen the imagings out of fort myers to the south. the rain, you see two little bull's eyes really in that i-4 corridor. up around daytona beach, about 2 feet of rain. same goes here just to the north of where the storm came on shore, there is some concern of potentially we're getting reports that are not confirmed, some reports saying there is potential wily some danger with one of the levees and some saying there's not. what we do know is that the myakka river there has crested at its all-time highest level, and it is expected to stay at at least above record level for about the next two days. florida's so flat, it takes a long time for water to re are recede out of there. want to show you the forecast other the next fife days, we're looking really good. plenty of sunshine to begin to dry things out. humidity levels a little bit lower and no chance of any precipitation. you'll notice also the overnight

lows cool enough that if you don't have electricity, you can certainly get your place cooledded out. this is where ian is now. one piece of energy is there across part of the atlantic bringing rain across parts of new england, and really what was the center of it is now here across parts of west virginia, bringing the threat for a little bit of flooding today and tomorrow. want to put into motion the future track. this is how today plays out. here you go, here's towards tomorrow morning. still seeing rain across areas of new england and still across parts of west virginia. go throughout the day on sunday, eventually that center piece begins to move on. we'll clear things out across parts of the appalachians, but still into monday morning rain across parts of new jersey and into the city. neil, we are still in the meat of hurricane season. there's what was each, there's one other disturbance that we're not too worried about, but we still have a big chunk to go.

this is where we are, about 30% average of activity to go, and the next about month would be time when you might still see some activity. want to show you in the month of october generally where we see storms that can pop up, it becomes less of storms that a come off the coast of africa and more a little bit closer to home. so parts of the western caribbean, the gulf and the western atlantic there, those are the spots where you could see some sort of hurricane activity that grins to brew. -- begins to brew. we have about a month and certainly keep our fingers crossed that nothing else comes our way. neil? neil: and the season goes until the end of november. rick: it does. neil: thank you, my friend. by the way, he was talking about the myakka river, that prompted a 14-mile closure of the highway that dose through there, i-75, in both directions. traffic is being rerouted there. whether that was caused by a levee break or not, of course, that's being disputed. not everyone is on the same page on this including the governor

who's telling us that no confirmation of that, just that the river is, indeed, surging, and an abundance of caution, they have closed i-75 in both directions, again, about a 14-mile chunk. we'll keep you posted on that, also on what's going on right now in florida and in fort myers, of course, that got the bankrupt of this storm. that's where -- brunt of this storm storm. alexandria hoff. >> reporter: so good to be with you right now. wert at a distribution site in port meyers. it opened up at 7:00 this morning, and it has been a constant line of cars. i mean, we have seen hundreds coming in here as the national guard handing out food, water, ice and basic supplies like blankets to people. while here we've been talking to people because they're waiting a while, so we've talked to people, and there's been a surprising amount of gratitude, optimism coming from this storm. once you look at those aerial images that we've been seeing, you really understand why that look from overhead, fort myers

beach truly devastating. it shows the wrath that ian really dealt. it's considered right now 90% lost. we're told that rescue efforts that were a bit more spontaneous at first have become more methodical to the to and are going to continue to see if there's anybody else who has not been in contact with their loved ones still out there, still stranded. even further into the gulf sanibel island is inaccessible at this hour bill -- still bid radio. barges are being used to bring in the heavy machinery they need. we've seen military and rescue helicopters flying overheard, and for more on that,, here's the lee county sheriff. >> everything that we need, we are just now in that time where we want to get out there and put it into action and help everybody that's in need. but guess what? the great state of florida is tough. we footballing a hit, we're going -- we took a hit, we're going to be stronger than ever, just going to take a little bit of time. >> reporter: when you get off the barrier islands, that's where we're seeing a lot of the footage from.

this damage is widespread. this neighborhood here in fort myers really could be any that we've seen. and we met brian in this particular one, he decided to stay behind in his motor home. his elderly neighbors were staying behind, so he didn't want to leave. >> i didn't know. i just, they said 10-12 feet, but i didn't think it would come up that quick. and then the longer i stayed, you know, the longer i had a chance of drowning. so luckily, i made it out, you know? one of the fortunate. if. >> reporter: you know, he was really close to not being one of the fortunate ones. he can't swim. when the water got up to his waist, he went out of his home, waded through the waters trying to get to higher ground under an overpass where a stranger with a van picked him up. he's credited with saving his life. they rode out the storm together in that van on higher ground where they could find it. i do want to get back to the warning that came out of sarasota county.

yes, there's been a little bit of back and forth. the sheriff's office has clarified that initial warning about a possible levee break, it really is a more specific area that they're concerned with right now. there's a neighborhood called hidden river in particular, and officials are going around the impacted areas as we're told knocking on doors, notifying people they do need to evacuate. neil? neil: thank you very much for that, alexandria of. i want to go right now to the mayor of fort myers, florida, kevin anderson. mayor, we're hearing, sir, i think to characterize what happened in your city, 90% gone. in other words, 90% destroyed. is that true? >> neil, that's -- when people say fort myers, they think about the metro propoll tan area. the city proper has suffered some heavy flooding damage, a lot of wind damage. but it's not to the extent that some people are reporting. neil: all right. so maybe you can characterize how are things there now or,

mayor? >> i can speak only for the cit- neil: sure. >> and we are coming back to life. people are cleaning up their yards, cutting down the fallen trees, power is slowly being restored. the flood waters have receded. the cleanup's well underway. we have almost every major roadway has been opened. and now we're just working on getting the water back. neil: how many are without power, mayor? >> we estimated initially about 80%, that's probably down to maybe 65, 70% now. neil: also, mayor, you know, in the rush of forecasting a storm, you know, people might get sort of bad signals. we're hearing that a lot of people who thought, for example, that this was going to do a beeline for tampa left for fort myers thinking that would be less of an impact. it turned out to be just the opposite, but can you tell us about that and how many were moved to move to your area when,

in fact, that got hit pretty hard? >> you know, what people need to understand and embrace is that the most predictable thing about a hurricane is that it is unpredictable. neil: well said. >> which means it can change course at any moment. we saw that with charley. within 20 minutes it went from a 2 to 3 to 4 and then made a right turn. you know, from our standpoint when we prepare, we prepare for the worst case scenario. and that's how people should approach storms. neil: did any folks there or many not heed evacuation, strong suggestions? i wouldn't call them orders, but many stuck around even when they were being advised not to. what about in your area? >> neil, we had a mandatory evacuation area and flood zones a and b, and people chose to ignore it. it's hard to get a handle on the number of people who stayed back

or who fled. the only real true number we can get is the number of people who went into shelters, and there were thousands that did so. neil: so when there's a mandatory evacuation order out there, just so i understand this, you can't enforce it. i mean, you can't go door to door ahead of time to make sure people are cleared, but not everyone took advantage of it, ask i'm curious as to maybe was that because it's been years since hurricanes have been a big issue in florida, three or four years? in your area, decades. and that that played into it? >> well, you know, we took a pretty good hit with irma ma, so it's been six years. but i think people do get complacent. you know, it doesn't help when you have reports of 14-foot storm surge during irma, and we didn't get near that. i moon, hardly -- actually, we didn't really get any storm surge. so people think about that, and when you tell them there's going to be storm surge, okay, here we

go again. and they really need to ache it serious. you know, the thing with this storm, with ian, is it hit us at high tide. so there was plenty of water to push ashore. neil: no, you're quite right about that. and myrtle beach -- not that it was, you know, save by all of this, but it did get hit as a category one some. but, of course, they were low tide at that point. so high tide, obviously, you know, exacerbated all of that. mayor, what happens now? you've obviously got a lot of cleans up to do. far more important people's safety and lives and all of that. but this is going to be a long process, isn't out?? -- isn't it? >> well, as i mentioned, we're slowly seeing the electricity return. i can't even begin to to estimate how long it's going to take us to get the water back up. so, yes, it's going to be a slow process. we will get the infrastructure up and running in a relatively

short period of time, but the rebuilding, it will take years. neil: yeah. i think you're probably right about that. mayor, i wish you well. i know it hasn't been an easy time for you or your people, but you've been there very early on trying to guide them, help them, told them to evacuate. some listen, some will not. kevin anderson the fort myers mayor, making sure that everyone's safe. he's got his priorities right. brian henry does as well, the polly's island major -- mayor, one of the areas directly targeted by this storm. passageways to polly's island were destroyed by the storm. maybe he can update us where things are now. mayor, good to have you. how are things today? >> good morning, neil. first of all, my heart goes out to the people of southwest florida, and i heard the mayor speak, and i share his sentiments about, you know, an oncoming storm and people heeding the warning. we definitely, definitely took a

direct hit here. we're just north of george where hurricane -- georgetown where hurricane ian made landfall. and even though it did not hit at high tide, it was close enough to high tide which was astronomical for this area, that it pushed a wall of water that exceeded a 7-foot storm surge. but just a quick update on what you said about the causeways, there are two causeways that allow access to the island. those causeways are now cleared, although the island itself has not been declared really safe to come onto the island just yet. however, south carolina des moines o.t. has been here -- d.o.t. has been here, got here early in the morning. we've got beautiful weather, high of 70 degrees, low humidity, and heir doing a tremendous amount of work to get the roadways clear. there's a tremendous amount of debris that they had to clear, and they're doing an exceptional job. we're thankful for the resources that we're getting, but we did

take quite a blow yesterday, neil, as i mentioned. neil: you did. one thing i was wondering, and we've seen some drone shots of the island. i mean, it looked like it was pretty badly damaged but not entirely wiped out as was the case with sanibel island in florida. maybe you can update us on that. >> sure. the damage that we saw in southwest florida in sanibel and port meyers was certainly catastrophic. we did not experience that. we had moderate erosion. we recently did a beach renourishment about who years ago which was fortunate, because if we had not done that, the damage here on this island would have been significant. but the damage it structurally, ill say, 90 miss, 99% of the houses are structurally sound. we lost, obviously, our pier that everyone loved, and on the back side of the island many, many docks and walkways were washed into the marsh on the back side of the island. the roadways have a lot of sand

is that a washed where the dunes breached from the waves and the win. wind. but we consider ourselves fortunate even though we were ground zero for this category one hurricane. we're just thankful for the resources. the governor of south carolina has reached out hult billion times to make sure -- multiple times to make sure we're getting the resources we need. south carolina department the of transportation has been more than grace, we've got heavy equipment all over the place getting the roadways cleared. our situation is better than southwest florida. we did take a major hit, but everyone's putting their arms and hands together to get things better. neil: they always do can, and you're leading that effort. we appreciate it, mayor. when i was talking to you yesterday, soon afterwards i talked to an engineer who had talked about rebuilding and how you go about it and whether in your area, as was the case this new jersey, for example, after the sandy nor'easter, gosh, a decade ago, that it was incumbent upon folks to rebuild there but put the homes on

higher pilings, just higher period and even to art arteries to these islands, maybe like the one by you here. that they have to be built higher. to you agree with that? -- do you agree with that? is that being considered? i know it's early. >> yeah, that's a very good point. the causeways to access pawley's island are at a certain level. they could be made higher. but the roadways on pawley's island itself are even at a lower elevation than those causeways themselves, and that's a challenge that we have that we're trying to work through. it costs a lot of money, there's a lot of priorities, but we as a town, we know that's an issue, and it's always more evident and reveals itself when we have storm surge like we had yesterday. so, yeah, i agree with you. i will say that we do have, fema does require homes to be built to at least 14-foot level on the

island. obviously, we've got older homes that are grandfathered in that experience more issues and problems when we have storm surge of this nature. neil: you have a lot to cob tend with, mayor -- contend with. i'm glad you're well and your folks are well. a lot of things can be are repaired, lives destroyed cannot. best of luck to you. >> thank you, neil, for the opportunity. neil: ken anderson of fort myers, florida -- kevin ankerson. we're going to be talking about marco island. service hit as well. some of the stories coming out of there about what happened when the storm hit, beyond incredible. after this. >> look, this is, this is -- look at this. [background sounds] this is our tree that a goes another 3 feet down. many of you have served our country honorably. one of the benefits that we as a country give you as a veteran is the eligibility

for a va loan, for up to 100% of your home's value. if you need cash for you family, call newday usa. with automatic authority from the va, we can say yes when banks say no... give us a call. this was right by the pawl

>> and here's the front of the house. look at the mailboxes. they were covered, water over the mailboxes. so it's gone down. the current's pushing that way. but, like, the mail boxes were completely underwater. look at the car. i hope they turn on because my car was up to the door. but now it's lore. but with i hope they turn on. look, we need a boat to to go anywhere. we literally can't go anywhere, we need a boat. neil: you need a lot more than a boat. marco island is a barrier island in the gulf of mexico, southwest florida. only a couple of ways to connect to it through some bridges south of city of naples, and it is home to nicki frisone's mom, that's why he was there, checking in on her. nicki kind enough to join us. they're, i believe, residents of

naples, right, guys? >> correct. neil: it's great to have you both back again. nick ify, you were there checking in on our your mom. how is she? >> she's doing a lot better. like i said, dad was on italy, he was on vacation, and he got back last night, so it was just a big rejoice. dad is back, so the family is back together, and so she's doing a lott better, a lot better today. >> yeah. and there's still a lot of cleanup ahead, you know? we don't really think about the things that go on when the storm hits and the saltwater destroys plantses, trees, everything dies. so yesterday we all got together at the house, and we were just kind of helping the neighbors and helping mom get back into, you know, moral life. neil: i like what you were both saying yesterday, it's what italian families do. >> yeah. neil: god bless you for that. i'm just wondering, now that dad's back from italy, are they

rethinking florida? rethinking marco island? >> yes. >> they said the house was going up for sale is. we were, we're wail supposed to be building our house on marco island down the street from hem, because that's what we do, and they're done. they said they are absolutely done, which means i'm not moving to marco island either -- [laughter] >> i do feel like it's only a matter of time, you know, until a bigger, stronger storm hits directly on marco. and, honestly, i can say -- i was scared. like, we -- >> yeah. >> we've seen other hurricanes, and i was so scared. that the water was going to just take over. so it's only, you know -- >> yeah, it was -- neil: you're in naples now and each though that dodged a serious part of the storm, didn't dodge it entirely, are you rethinking florida at all? >> no. florida, florida's my home. originally from new york, my whole family, but florida, in my opinion, is still just the best place. we'll just go a little more

inland. naples inland, it wasn't affected too much, so i think that's going to be the plan. neil: you know, i was thinking of both of yo too because you, of course, were early florida residents before this big boom that we've seen certainly over the last couple of years, millions of folks coming from the north, new york, you mentioned and, by the way, bringing their bad driving with them, i might point out -- >> terrible, terrible. [laughter] neil: but one of the things that i noticed is all these newcomers, they don't know what hurricanes are about. even a lot of florida residents, it's been a while since something like this happened. so do you think floridians were, you know, ooh forgettableful or -- forgetful or taking this too lightly? >> i definitely, mousse, i was taking it lightly -- myself. if people look at my tiktok, i didn't think -- she was warning me. >> i had a bad feeling. >> she had a bad feeling. neil: you didn't listen to your wife? what the heck? >> i didn't listen to my wife,

so you were right, i was wrong. [laughter] we've been through so many of them and, like i said, you're scared of the wind. like, that's the scary part. and my whole mindset just changed because it's not the wind that was scary, it was the first time where we saw water like this. >> sure. >> it was just a whole different experience. like i said, i've never seen anything like it. it was terrible. neil: it wasn't as scary with the water because you were which canning in on mom, the water's rising, but it's rising rapidly -- >> rapidly. neil: super rapidly. maybe explain what you were seeing. >> we lived on this little bay in marco, and to get to the ocean, you'd take the right side. so, you know, you weren't thinking anything of it. there was a lot of rain, and out of nowhere i just saw water pushing into our bay, like, just tons and tons. i'm, like, that, that is what a storm surge is. a lot of people have been asking me on my tiktok, like, they don't understand. i'm trying to educate everyone

what a storm surge is. it's just the water getting pushed and pushed and pushed to the point where you just start panicking. and then a few hours later, like i said, the water just complete opposite, just turns and goes back out. if it's incredible to actually see even though it's terrifying, it's incredible to watch. neil: incredible, right. renata,s he should have listened to you. >> he should have listened. >> stop. [laughter] neil: i'm just rubbing it in -- >> i'm all about vacations, so when a storm is coming, i'm, like, where are we going. i don't want to stay here. and he's like, oh, it's okay -- >> i'm not leaving mom. [laughter] neil: well, listen, i'm glad everything's okay, and i don't mean to kid you, but i'm glad we can. >> yeah. neil: guys, thank you very much. nicky, happy wife saves your life. >> i know, i got it. i've learned a couple lessons this week. neil: i can relate, young man.

thank you very much, guys. >> of course. neil: my best to mom and dad. >> thank you. neil: we'll have a lot more after this. (vo) with verizon, you can now get a private 5g network. so you can do more than connect your business, you can make it even smarter. now ports can know where every piece of cargo is. and where it's going. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) robots can predict breakdowns and order their own replacement parts. (foreman) nice work. (vo) and retailers can get ahead of the fashion trend of the day with a new line tomorrow. with a verizon private 5g network, you can get more agility and security. giving you more control of your business.

we call this enterprise intelligence. from the network america relies on. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program.

it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. attention military personnel, families and civilians who were stationed or worked at camp lejeune before 1988. you may have been exposed to drinking water contaminated with benzene and other highly carcinogenic chemicals, and you may be eligible for significant financial compensation. if you or a loved one developed non-hodgkin's lymphoma, lung cancer, bladder, breast or kidney cancer or other serious health conditions, you may be eligible for substantial financial compensation.

act now. time is limited. call today for your free confidential case evaluation. 8447850002. neil: all right. i want to show you a little bit of activity, or should i say lack of activity because the southwest portion of florida is essentially shut down, i-75 about a 12-mile radius of the

myakka river in sarasota county is overflowing. some are saying that's because there's a levee broken there. no indication that as happened, we haven't gotten confirmation, but out of an abundance of caution and because the river itself is surging -- and that was expected, not to the degree it is right now -- that they closed i-75 in both directions. they're worried about possible flood surges that could continue especially if the lee see is broken. it's about a -- levee is broken. it's about an hour south of tampa and, again, in sarasota county which includes city of sarasota, northport and all that, population half a million folkses. but again, in that a chunk of area you can't move in either direction so it's obviously complicating traffic. as we learn more, we will pass that along. if that's the worst of woes for floridians to face right now, probably, probably welcome development here at this stage. you know, a lot of people have incredible stories to tell like the last couple here where it got pretty hairy for them on

marco island. very similar in a number of other cities and regions across florida, particularly in naples where alexis realized firsthand how dangerous it gets when flood waters get that close. they both join us right now. how are you guys holding up, first off. >> we're doing okay. we are on day four without think power, but it looks like everybody is well underway with cleanup here, and we're all just doing our best to keep our spirits high in this horrible time. neil: explain what happened. i mean, i've been seeing some of the video, i guess you were taking it. you were close to something pretty hairy. >> yes. is and it got really more than i expected here. it looks like a bomb went off. >> the video happened because there was a fire alarm going off in our building nonstop, and we

were listening to the radio, and it said that there was a fire near our area but the fire department was completely submerged. so my husband went to go check to see if there was a fire in our building to make sure we didn't have to evacuate to the twin tower. there's an adjacent building here that we could have gone to if immediate be, and the elevator was, obviously, not in service because we don't have electricity. so he had to take the stairwell. and he saw on the first floor how much water was coming in, so he was recording a short video to show me when he came back upstairs. and, unfortunately, at that time the door decided to give way, and that horrible situation happened. he was completely submerged underwater and pushed up the stairs -- neil: oh, or my gosh. >> and the water sucked his shoes off. by the grace of god, he was able to grab the handrailing there

that honestly saved his life. neil: when i'm looking at this, obviously, it happens very quickly. it looks like you were on main floor level trying to assess things and then saw this. maybe you could tell me, you know, how you got out of there, because you could have drowned. >> yeah. that handrail saved my life. and you can see it on the last frames of the video as i get pushed up share welshing i managed to grab on to that, then i ran up the stairs barefoot and slipping everywhere because i was completely submerged underwater when it came over me. neil: what floor are you on? >> we're on floor eight here, and that had advantages because it seemed to get the brunt of the wind was faster higher, less obstruction. we had window paines breaking out in the -- window panes breaking out in the hallways. neil: are you in the same unit right now, guys? are you back in the unit you

were in when all this went down? [inaudible] neil: you are. >> yes? neil: i'm sorry, the audio's bad or at least i'm deaf, i'm sorry. are other in the building as well? are some reluctant to come back? i would imagine maybe some of the lower units not so fast or not so easy. >> there are some people in the units, and it's been pretty miraculous. i've had a lot of people who have condo units in this building reach out to me on social media after they saw my post thanking me, and and aye actually checked on multiple people for poem who have messagedded me because they have not been able to get in touch with hair love ones because the service here has been pretty nonexistent. neil: i don't know if you're interested in becoming a cameraman, but, i mean --

[laughter] you have a lot of bravery and a lot of skill to take what you took and then to get out of there alive. but i'm sure you would not ever want to be in that position again. >> yeah. i thought i was going to die. i worked as a cameraman before, i've flown drones and filmed. >> he took our wedding photos. neil: wow. all right. well, that saved a little there. guys, i'm so glad that you made it through but, roger, video is incredible. and the fact that seconds later you could have died but somehow you didn't and held on says a lot about you and your composure, getting back to your wonderful wife. so i'm glad you're both okay. hopefully, things improve and quickly at that. thank you again, guys. >> thank you for having us. neil: imagine having the wherewithal? man, oh, man, that would not be me. let's go to jen per leatherman, the united cajun navy director.

she talks about all these people who sacrifice everything to help folks who have lost everything, back with us right now, of course, famous for rescuing folks in the most inhospitable of circumstances to put it mildly. getting through, nevertheless. jennifer, good to have you back. where are you and your fellow water rescuers targeting? >> well, the fort myers area still, i mean, we've got so many areas around there that are just completely devastated. we have not stopped. since the minute we got there, which was the night of the hurricane. it's just, seems never ending right now. just call after call, desperate calls from family members all over the country. you know, looking for their loved ones. they haven't herald from them in days and just begging for us to find them. and that's what we're out there doing with all of our volunteers just round the clock. search and rescue. neil: it's got to be tricky, right, jennifer? because so many are still

without power, i guess better than a million. there's no way for you to reach hem or them to reach you -- >> right. neil: -- short of going door to door or boating door to door, right? >> right. and in some neighborhoods, that's what we're doing. i mean, other than when the families are calling us and just gives us names and addresses and we just go. we get in the boats, we get in the four wheelers, and we just go. 90% of the time they're there. one of our, the kids that we rescued, he was he was in his house for 36 hours. the mother was desperate. and one of our -- stayed with him overnight til we could get him across the bay. we reunited him with his mom yesterday, and it was beautiful. but, you know, that's what we're doing out there. we're just flying by the seat of our pants and hoping that when we get there, that they're there, safe and alive. neil: a lot of them can't respond or get out you, right? if you go to the house, and a lot of people we're hearing these stories about elderly people who are holed up in the attic and probably shouting to

you, that's where they are, but what is that like? >> well, you know, if we go and we don't get a response, we just go in. [laughter] i mean -- neil: is that right? >> we're going to go in and look and search the property. i mean, like, the kid that we went and found, he was hiding. he was scared. he kept hearing screaming all night. he didn't realize that was other people screaming for help. he thought, you know, as far as he knew, the bogeyman was out there. he was hiding in, what do you call it, a utility box. neil: wow. >> finally found him. but people are scare. they don't know who we are, if we're looters or are there to do bad things. we call out to them, let 'em know that we're the cajun navy, we're here to help, and most of the time we can get to them. neil: you're incredding, jennifer. >> thank you -- incredible. neil: by the way, i'm stating the obvious here, but think of what they're risking too. this is an area where you could have downed power lines and a lot more to deal with.

but they're putting all that aside to get to people who desperately need the help even now especially when so many of them have no way to tell people they need help. they're there going door to door, pounding on the door, breaking into the home to make sure that everyone's okay. everything is okay. we'll have more after this.

this is going to be great. taking the shawl off. i did it. is he looking at my hairline? my joint pain isn't too bad. well, it wasn't this morning. i hope i can get through this.

is plaque psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis making you rethink your everyday choices? otezla is a pill, not a cream or injection that can help people with plaque psoriasis achieve clearer skin. otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness and pain in psoriatic arthritis. and no routine blood tests required. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla can cause serious allergic reactions. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines and if you're pregnant or planning to be. doctors have been prescribing otezla for over 8 years. don't hesitate. ask your doctor about otezla today. all across the country, people are working hard to build a better future. so we're hard at work, helping them achieve financial freedom. we're providing greater access to investing,

with low-cost options to help maximize savings. from the plains to the coasts, we help americans invest for their future. and help communities thrive. neil: all right, we are approaching almost 11 a.m. on the east coast of the united states, certainly what you're looking at in florida right now at a time when the entire community is trying to rebuild after all of this and search for folks still trapped in the middle of all of this. we do can know about 1.3 million in florida are still without power, a few hundred thousand in that position in south carolina. more on that a in a second. want to take you to naples where we'll find lauren blanchard with the very latest from there. lauren. >> reporter: hey, neil. yeah, this is vanderbilt beach in naples.

normally home to luxury hotels, apartments. this is what it looks like today. the cleanup effort is now underway. this is actually the first time we have been allowed back here. you can see they are just -- see some folks who have just gone swimming, it looks like, but behind them you have these emergency crews, these workers trying to clear the road. you can see a car there. this is going to show you how much force these storm surges had. a lot of these garages on this side, the water side, they have been basically just blown through. you can see a lot of the belongings have been pushed out of the homes. because of just, you know, how hard this storm hit, when it actually did hit here. this, unfortunately, is what it hooks like the entire stretch of vanderbilt beach, a really, really hard toty jest sight -- to digest sight at this time. i can tell you, neil, these crews are working really, really

hard to try and salvage whatever they can to clean this up as fast as they can to allow people to try and come back in here to see what they can get. but these buildings really took brunt of this storm surge and, guy, even in this area i can tell you right now in collier county the whole county right now 911 is out. obviously, that is not helpful for the search and rescue missions that do continue at this time. the only way to reach first responders at this point is to text 911. they've also posted another number on hair social media, so that -- their social media. that ors obviously, complicating things. the other thing we've been watching, up in sarasota county there was a text alert that was sent out in the middle of the night that essentially said there was a possibility the levee could break and flood the area with 15 feet of water. a few hours later the national weather service said that that wasn't quite right.

sarasota county sheriff has confirmed that, in fact, it's only a few houses in one area that is at risk for flooding. so things definitely not as bad as we thought. neil? neil: thank you very much for that, lauren. and to her point, myakka river in that area has, indeed, summered, and that has shut down a 12 to 14-mile section of i-75 out of an abundance of caution. so you can't get either way on that stretch of road. so, predictably, you see traffic and a lot of it. more after this.

prop 27 sends from online sports betting to out-of-state corporations in places like new york and boston. no wonder it's so popular... out there. yeah! i can't believe those idiots are going to fall for this. 90%! hey mark, did you know california is sending us all their money? suckers. -those idiots!

[ laughter ] imagine that, a whole state made up of suckers. vote no on 27. it's a terrible deal for california. we win. you lose. neil: all right, i want to take you back, this is interstate 75. i think i called it i.-70, i apologize. it's in southwest fcialg i believe this portion is part of the 14-mile chunk that is closed

in both directions because the myakka river is surging. some were saying a levee has broken, no confirmation of that, the governor's office says no confirmation of that. be that as it may, the surgery continues, and they're closing it in both directions out of an abundance of caution. this is the sort of stuff that, you know, could have effects on people just trying to get things, you know, that old supply and demand thing means that prices could go higher not only there, maybe across the country. it's why we've been seeing the federal reserve even before this storm raising interest rates pretty aggressive ily. my next guest fears too aggressively. jeremy siegel is his name, he's a wharton school professor, highly regarded, iconic figure, very smart fellow. i'm honored to have him with us again. professor, this storm in florida typically wouldn't be on people's radar as an inflation contributor, but these storms tend to at least initially cause prices to spike, then it

stabilizes. do you worry about that? >> well, you know, it's interesting, you know, it's interesting how these storms are treated in gdp. actually, destruction is not subtracted, but when they rebuild, it's added back on. so the ironic thing is that gdp goes up in the two years following, and it doesn't go down to count for the destruction. so in some ways, you -- it's the convention of the statisticians to do that. but clearly, this also could, you know, florida's a big state, one of the biggest. it could continue to slow down the economy which, of course, as you mentioned, i feel the fed is being too aggressive or talking too aggressive and is likely to cause a severe recession. neil: in fact, that is what the markets peer as well. we just wrapped -- fear as well. we just wrapped up a horrible

september, one of the worst we've seen in a couple of decades to say nothing of the worst nine months going back to 2002. there's a panic ensuing here. what do you make of that? >> well, you know, september is historically the worst month of the year. fulfilledded its expectation. but i think the fed -- i mean, i think the market is saying i think you're too tight. when i look at prices of real estate which, you know, came down on the official statistics of case shiller and the federal housing, when i look at the price of oil now below the level of when russian invaded ukraine, when i -- other commodities are way down. lumber, i just realize, is below the level pre-pandemic, and we all heard those stories about lumber going up 2,000% at one point. i see a lot of deflation in goods. now, there's going to be some

carryover inflation in some of the services, to be sure -- neil: but not to the point that -- i'm jumping -- >> [inaudible] neil: i hear you. sorry, we have a harold break coming and more news coming out of florida, professor. i do can want to thank you very, very much. his point is one to be taken that we might be overdoing our reaction to this, after this. ...

>> how many of you are there? okay. do you have a crate or a bag? >> what's your name? we'll get you out of here. how about your neighbors, tune of any injuries? >> old people and gone to a shelter. >> okay. i'll talk to them. >> get a bag