never to discuss with people. p, religion and the great pumpkin. >> good advice there. that's it for us at 5:00. we'll se ♪ ♪ tonight, survivor stories. recovery efforts ramp up in florida after hurricane ian's devastation. rescue crews searching flooded homes with some areas still inaccessible. more than a million and a half people without power and getting out isn't easy. >> i'm manuel bojorquez in fort myers where people share stories about how they survived. >> further north, floodwater it ises receding on the carolina coast. >> the storm's impact is being felt, but some say they escaped the worst of ian's wrath. >> also tonight, hostages freed. seven americans, some detained for more than four years in

venezuela to return home. we'll have details on the arrangement. plus, russian retreat. a day after president putin announced he is annexing the region, his soldiers withdraw from a key ukrainian city. charlie d'agata has the details. >> and later, marking a milestone. this hollywood beauty getting a well-deserved facelift ready for his close-up. >> it's almost like meeting a celebrity. >> the hollywood sign is a celebrity. ♪ ♪ this is "the cbs weekend news." >> good evening. i'm errol barnett in for adriana diaz. tonight cbs news is learning the number of people who lost their lives for what was hurricane ian could be at least 76 with more than a million people still without power and countless others with homes totally destroyed.

in fort myers beach which took a direct hit, local officials say 90% of that town is effectively gone, and coastal south carolina also slammed by ian suffered massive flooding. ian still lingers bringing storms and rain to the upper mid atlantic tonight and the northeast tomorrow. we begin with cbs' manuel bojorquez joining us from fort myers, florida. >> good evening, manny. good evening, errol. the cleanup is under way in downtown fort myers and unfortunately for business owners that means getting rid of everything. to this day the dangers of hurricane ian persist this time in the form of floodwaters in upstream. some of the same areas that ian pummeled with winds are now inundated by the runoff from rain that fell inland. the water rose fafrt around some residents of north port, florida, who had to be rescued by emergency crews and volunteers including a group that calls itself the cajun

navy. >> those guys are great. yeah. they help us out so much. ⌞> since ian made landfall more than 4,000 people have been rescued from flooded neighbor neighborhoods or the barrier islands like sanibel, where destruction is visible for miles. long lines are formed at water distribution sites. robert pagorsky recorded during the height of the storm. that's our house. >> the next day he and his girlfriend tried to enter the green cup cafe which he owns. >> today he showed us the equipment and furniture that were tossed around and toppled now covered in mud. >> we're not just talking about your business here. we're also talking about your home. >> yeah. yeah. that was the craziest part is that, you know, we lost our cars. we lost our home. we lost our business. >> but this is home for robby, and he doesn't plan to change that.

>> i love green cup. i love the community that we brought together, and we have so many guests that have reached out to us, and to see that level of love in 2022 is so great. ♪ >> but he will have one additional hurdle to rebuilding. he doesn't have flood insurance. he said he never thought the water would come that high. so far, florida's governor says 8700 people have registered for fema assistance, that number certain to climb. errol? >> manuel bojorquez, our thanks to you and the team there. today massive cleanup efforts are under way in parts of south carolina after ian tore through the city. myrtle beach suffered some of the worst damage in the state and that's where cbs' michael george is tonight. good evening, michael. >> errol, good evening. just to show you the power of this storm, this was pushed by the hurricane for two miles to

the beach. the crew was rescued beforehand and while the damage is still being assessed, they're grateful that it wasn't worse. >> this drone video shows the devastation ian left behind on south carolina's pawley's island. the long cleanup has begun. >> literally the whole island was submerged and now we lost power and we're digging out. >> ian tore through the state with a six-foot storm surge and winds up to 92 miles per hour. people are counting their blessings that the damage wasn't on the scale seen in florida. >> we are very fortunate. i feel sad for everybody else, but we're very fortunate. >> the category 1 hurricane was powerful enough to tear the coastline apart and batter a historic water ship docked on the coast. in myrtle beach firefighters rescued apartment residents trapped by floodwater. >> it gotad ride it out. and what happened? >> that generator started

smoking. >> and the water started rise. >> the flooding damaged neighborhoods up and down the state and crews are working to restore power to tens of thousands of homes, but the good news, the governor says it appears no lives were lost. >> there's damage. there's some heartbreak. there's work to be done, but all in all it is a good story, another good story for south carolina, and we are open for business. >> and north carolina was also hit hard by ian. today the president approved emergency federal funding for the state. errol? >> all right, ■michael eorge, thank you. here now with a look at what's left of ian and where it's headed next is jennifer carfagno from our partners at the weather channel. >> we no longer have hurricane ian or tropical storm ian, but we do have post-tropical ian and that's been causing rain over west virginia and western pennsylvania remains a story through this evening and even

into your sunday watching for rain showers. some of them could be heavy at times and none likely to cause flooding. as we get through next week, any remnant low there combines with another system off the coast and we have a coastal low which is going to be developing. this will bring some heavy rain right along the coastal areas and actually give us that risk that we could see some possible flash flooding tomorrow morning into monday morning and ramp up the wins and that's going to be a story as we get into early next week, watching strong winds coming in from the north as we see the strong low off the coast and high pressure building in between the two very windy conditions. errol, back to you? >> all right. ian's not done with us yet. jen, thank you. today president biden announced the return of seven americans who were held in venezuela for more than four years. christina raffini is at the white house. what else do we know? >> the white house and president biden has spoken to the families

of all americans that are in the air and on their way home. an official also tells us that they had a chance to speak to their families and that they were overjoyed to have been released. now the move was part of a prisoner swap in exchange for two nephews of president maduro's wife who were convicted on drug charges in a u.s. court in 2015 in what was a very high-profile case accusing the maduro government in being complicit in drug trafficking. the exchange took place in a third unidentified country and president biden signed off on the release of the two venezuelans a few weeks ago, but it's taken this long to make it actually happen. also tonight, we are learning the iranian government has temporarily released two u.s. citizens, bacher is 85 and after six years in detention will be allowed to leave the country for medical treatment. his son has been released to stay with family in tehran and the exact conditions of that release are unclear.

this is good news for these men and their family, but also for the biden administration which has been under increasing pressure to secure the release of the detained americans in russia and elsewhere around the world. errol? >> just remarkable updates there. chri christina ruffini, thank you. ukrainian forces recaptured a key city vladimir putin claimed to have annexed just one day earlier. cbs' charlie d'agata reports from dnipro. >> russian president vladimir putin may have celebrated the illegal annexation of ukrainian territory in red square whipping up the crowd over his bare-faced land grab. trance trns we have become stronger together, he said. the truth is on our side. >> but the battlefields of ukraine tell a different truth..

the truth is on our side. >> but the battlefields of ukraine tell a different truth. today ukrainian troops recaptured the city in donbas, the very region putin now calls his own. in fact, not one of the territories is under full russian control. frustrated on the front lines, the russian military has taken aim at civilian targets. ukrainian officials say the keia >> this is what the consequences of russia's land grab looked like, a deadly attack on a civilian convoy. families that were just trying to provide help to loved ones. >> victoria had just stepped away from the convoy for a break only to return to find her boss among the dead. she describes seeing a boy die with his mother trying to save him. it was complete hysteria, she

said. you can't believe how terrifying it was. they had come to help others, not to sacrifice their lives trying to reach them. >> this the evening, the russian ministry of defense confirmed that forces had retreated from lyman. not only a humiliating defeat for president putin, but a significant setback right in the middle of what he now considers russian soil. charlie d'agata, cbs news, dnipro, ukraine. straight ahead on the cbs weekend news. in the eye of the storm the hurricane hunters unveil their new weapon that could save lives. >> rising tides force amtrak to stop the trains on one key southern california route. and a show business legend gets a facelift.

for nearly 80 years air crews known as hurricane hunters

have flown dangerous missions to gather the most accurate data on major storm systems. well now a new piece of equipment could provide even more accurate readings from inside these unstable weather events. cbs' ben tracy got a first-hand look. >> there goes the best. holy cow! >> this is what it was like flying straight into the eye of hurricane ian. >> oh! >> it was one of the roughest flights the team from the national oceanic and atmospheric administration has ever experienced, and it was also historic. before taking off they loaded on their new secret weapon, a three and a half foot tube containing a hurricane hunting drone. >> so this drone can literally go fly around the inside of a hurricane? >> yes. what we want to do is fly in and around those highest winds. >> it is called the ots-600 and weighs 25 pounds and can fly for

48 hours and its mission is to go where no aircraft or scientist can go. the so-called boundary layer where the air and the ocean violently meet, below 3,000 feet. >> so when these systems make landfall, we want to know what's going on in that very critical boundary layer so we can help forecasters make the decisions they need to make. >> after dropping the drone into hurricane ian wednesday it recorded 216 mile per hour winds just 2500 feet above the surface. >> it doesn't record video, but it could be critical in detecting when a hurricane rapidly intensifies, something scientists say is happening more frequently as climate change warms ocean waters providing more fuel for monster storms. >> when this flies into the eye of the hurricane, why not just shred this. it doesn't weigh much. we are also going to be flying with the wind. we're noting fightinto g witht. >>e are hoping it will help

improve hurricane saives.ben tracy,bs news, lakel florida. still ahead on the "cbs weekend news" train service comes to a halt on an essential line in southern california.

in las vegas today a solemn remembrance marking five years since the deadliest mass shooting in modern american history. a lone gunman shot and killed 58 concert goers and wounded more than 800 others before taking his own life. his motive may never be known. tonight train service is halted indefinitely along a key route in southern california used by million happens of passengers every year. erosion and soil instability from a recent tropical storm shifted tracks along the san clemente coastline which sits between l.a. and san diego. amtrak and metrolink commuter service is now suspended an

approximately 80-mile stretch as crews work to fix the problem. >> coming up next on the "cbs weekend news." california's farmers continue to plow on even in the face of a relentless drought.

tonight, forecasters say california is likely headed into a fourth straight year of drought, and that has profound implications for the entire nation which depends on crops grown in the golden state. with our weekend journal here is elizabeth cooke from cbs station kpex. >> this is not what a tomato is supposed to look like, but for a lot of farmers in the central valley this is exactly what they're seeing. scorched, flattened, ruined fruit. the culprit? >> i think it's the climate change that plays the biggest role here. >> nick metcalf grows gourmet to

p natos and he's cultivated some of the most fertile soil in the world. that said, he's never seen anything quite like this. >> never, i think. this is the hottest summer i've ever encountered in my life. >> one in four of all tomatoes on the planet is ground here in california, but the recent extreme heat has damaged a big chunk of them. >> pretty much baked them all. >> nick lost two-thirds of his crop, so badly damaged it's really only good for compost. nick sells slightly scorched tomatoes at a discount at the farmer's market in san rafael, he told all eight dollars. >> some people mack sals as. >> he sells to top restaurants all around the bay area. one of his customers, renowned of the nopa restaurant. >> we are here to celebrate

farmers and show who the heroes are and they're the farmers. >> they take such big risks, you know? as has been proven now. your whole livelihood depends on mother nature. >> at the restaurant the chef changes his menu daily based upon what's fresh at the market. this day he's serving up lots of tomatoes. >> the chef's supply may not last very long. he, too, is concerned about climate change. >> i have three children. i have three teenagers. yeah, i'm greatly concerned for their future. we are seeing it every single day. >> as for nick, his tomato growing season will end early. even so, he remains optimistic. that's what farmers do. >> i'm not giving up and we are going to do this again next year, so no matter what happens. >> elizabeth cooke, cbs news, winters, california. >> when we come back, the towering hollywood star getting ready to celebrate her centennial.

>> finally tonight, an aging hollywood star is getting a serious makeover. the hollywood sign is the recipient and she's getting ready to celebrate a very special birthday. here's cbs' carter evans. >> there's nothing more hollywood than an icon marking its 100th anniversary by getting some work done. dangling from the 45-foot letters painters are giving the sign its first makeover in ten years and to get to see it up close we had to hike to it. >> this is like getting into one of the most exclusive clubs in los angeles. nobody gets to go to the hollywood sign. >> security at this place is really tight. >> we have cameras all over the place the hollywood sign trust that pays for its upkeep. recently they uncovered a new discovery at the base of the letters hidden for 40 years. >> there are two places where you can see handprints and

signatures in concrete and one is at the chinese theater and the other is up here. >> a tribute for the workers that built the hollywood sign that draws people from around the world. >> it's hard to believe it's been here for almost 100 years. >> i know. it's held up well, hasn't it? >> when first premiered in 1923 the sign was an advertisement for the real estate development below it hollywoodland. it wasn't meant to last. the hollywood sign became a shining emblem of the entertainment industry, but over the years the wear and tear reflected a city in decline. >> in 1978 the new sign was reborn and rebuilt with the concrete and steel that still keeps it standing today. >> the hollywood sign is a special place and it has to be protected otherwise we have taggers up here and doing all

kinds of mischief. not that it has aren't been done. >> pranksters have hijacked the hollywood sign more than a few sign and other planned transform eggs marked the bet awards and the l.a. rams super bowl win. >> and with the magic of hollywood it's been destroyed in tv and in movies again and again and again. the work here now ensures the real sign will continue to shine on this star-studded city for years to come. >> it is so important to the city of l.a. and all of its people, but to the world. >> it's almost like meeting a celebrity. >> you know what? the hollywood sign is a celebrity and it deserves its own star on the walk of fame. maybe for the next big birthday, carter evans, cbs news, los angeles. >> that is the "cbs weekend news" for this saturday. later on cbs it's 48 hours and don't forget sunday morning with jane pauley first thing tomorrow. i'm errol barnett.

for all our teams around th world, good ni >> one oakland neighborhood says says they are tired of seeing prostitutes right in front of their homes. >> if you ask what you see when you are driving down, girls in bikinis and she knows what stres they are on. > >> plus a new tribute to an asian grandfather whose death helped spark a movement after hs attacked on the san francisco street. and? >> driving home. >> what's it like to be able to say that? >> brings tears to my eyes. >> her own bed and her own homea south bay woman's emotional journey from homeless to housed after two decades on the streets. good evening, i'm ryan yamamoto. we begin in oakland

where neighborhood plagued with sex trafficking demands an into the problem for those looking to to become the next mayor. people mayor. people attended the san antonio neighborhood action forum to see how the candidates planned to stop prostitution on east 15th street. kpix5's da lin lin talks to neighbors about that ongoing issue. >> i lived on east 15th for a long time. used to be a very quiet street but after the city recon fig rated international boulevard, that pushed the sex workers a block over to this working class neighborhood. evey day, families are greeted with girls stopping traffic and soliciting customers. stephanie pushes her stroller past sex workers on a daily basis. some girls in bikinis. other in see through tops. >> we can't really do much. >> reporter: she says this type of behavior has become normal on on east