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through pitch dark southeast florida. many power outages are reported throughout the state, and already there about 2000 flight cancellations for today, many of them for orlando, tampa and jacksonville airports. it has been >> it has been downgraded to category one hurricane, but it's still very dangerous. the winds are slowing, but catastrophic with life-threatening flooding. >> we get life updates on its path and destruction. >> in orlando, there were estimates that as much as 20 inches of rain could have fallen, and it's been hammering the area for hours. let's go right to jesse coach who was there. i hope you're someone save, you were talking about having to go to higher ground earlier, especially the location being too dangerous. >> yes and at this point we are dealing with pretty consistent rainfall here. there were bands of it earlier, we continue to see gusts of

intense wind. but the rain is been falling for hours. and you can see we talk to a short while ago with the water inching closer and closer to the top step. and let's just take another look here. we have got to be millimeters away at this point, centimeters, millimeters away. very, very close to this water just completely coasting over the top of this. we are bracing for the possibility of having to move inside. we've seen some flights lights flicker. thankfully the power is held on, our cell reception is holding up pretty strong in orlando as well. so far photographer tony can turn around and show you. he can't see it but just to the frame here on this side is a white circular life preserver, one of those discs that you might see decoratively on the side of a boat. that is because just to the

side of where i'm standing is a pool. this is the pool deck but now it is entirely a pool. and that life preserver is floating towards me. i'm not gonna go reach for it because first off we tried to avoid stepping in water at all costs in these situations, you don't know what's in there, but we suspect what might be in the water here are alligators. because they are a problem around here on a good day. and with so much water making it impossible for some of this water to be quickly flush the way it is likely that we might have some gaiters making their way into areas they normally wouldn't be. that's a situation here. it talked about 20 inches of rain. we're actually expecting some areas to get as much as 30 inches of rain. that is the biggest concern here in the orlando area, the threat of flash flooding. that is something we're gonna be watching for in the hours

ahead and again we are still hours away from the worst of eons impact, the brunt of the storm to be hitting this part of the state of florida. it is still sweeping its way towards us. this is what's going on ahead of time which just gives you an idea of the wingspan of in and how much an impact it is having well before reaches the areas it's touching. >> that's something else, look at the flooding in the wind damage to come, and of course the alligators that you mention. jesse corruption or, lana jessie thank. you >> between human and wildlife literally washed away. let's go now to nbc meteorologist michelle grossman. >> either, guys in more jesse's, as he mentioned he's gonna see the worst of it still. we're gonna see heavy rains also really gusty winds. that's gonna bring us some wind trees, power lines. you see some additional power outages. let's give you the additional latest on eons. we saw winds gusting over hundred miles per hour in so many spots.

it was dangerous, catastrophic, we are to wake up to pictures we never seen before. i'm gonna see homes washed away and really things looking very different than they did yesterday. 135 miles per hour and cape coral, on top of that we had very heavy rainfall. some spots up to 20 inches of rain is jesse mentioned. we can see isolated spots up to 30 inches of rain. that's two and a half feet. florida got a lot of rain and the ground is already saturated. this is the latest of the 2:00. 75 million miles per hour. it's barely a hurricane, that's not really the story today. we're still seeing really gusty winds. the story is the rain story, the flash flooding that we are expecting, that is life-threatening. it's moving at nine miles per hour, it didn't slow down that we thought was gonna slow down to, but it's still moving very slowly across the peninsula of florida. that's why we're seeing all this heavy rain being dropped, because the atmosphere is holding a lot of moisture right now. so as we track it out here

we're gonna see weaken a little bit further later this afternoon to a chalk-able storm. at that point it'll merge over the atlantic, and it will take a little turn and it will impact southeast portions of georgia into the carolinas. all this heavy rain still falling, the darker colors that's where we're expecting the heaviest rain. then we'll see another landfall tomorrow, somewhere in south carolina. as we go through saturdays, talking no eons impacted, into the mid-atlantic, into the northeast by sunday, and we can see heavy rain in some spots, potential for some flash flooding, that's why we do have some flash flood warnings right now. back to you. guys >> we shall thank you. >> fire chief of the boca grand fire department. we appreciate you being with us at this hour. when i ask you about yesterday we saw this incredible footage of the eyewall hitting the boca grand. tell us about the damage now on what you've been hearing for most of the people have been eating rescues or other

concerns? >> we've had no calls for rescue on the island. we're actually stayed off island because of the mandatory evacuation. we evacuated the island and the fire department. we know there few people who stayed behind and we stay in contact with them they are reporting structural damage, a little bit of water, a good amount of debris on the island, so we are waiting now for the sun to basically come up, and will hit the island this morning in person and start evaluating. >> chief, there's some questions on social media about people who decided to stay, asking for the branches invoke are still standing. what can you tell us about the status of? those >> pretty confident the bridges are still up. they were brand-new about ten years ago. they stood through irma and they were built to withstand this type of an impact. we are confident the bridges

are up and we will see here shortly. >> talk about this chief the work that you have cut out for you. you mentioned once the sun comes out, that'll depression determine about the damage there. especially with the rag residents, are eager to come home and see what damage there is to their houses. what kind of resources do you have as far as being able to do that? >> we have a fire department on the island. wonderful department with some great staff and we are very professional. we'll go to's morning and we'll send out a team to survey damage to make sure that we can even get there and get there safely before we start moving the operators, the fire trucks, a lot of trucks out there. we're gonna be looking for any light hazards, downed power lines, structures that are untenable or unsafe, any other things that may become damaged during the storm, that became a threat to life or property or

just people in general, and the first responders. we'll do a survey this morning and then as we deem things safe will continue to move in and do a more thorough investigation and evaluation. >> or at the best of luck to you. cw lost to, the fire chief for boca grand, you have your work cut out for you once don breaks, lot of work to be done. >> early today is back in just a minute with continuing coverage from florida. we're live in tampa where hurricane ian literally sucked the water out of the bay. >> when the storm passes, the federal government will be there helping the people. we'll be there to help you clean up and rebuilt, we'll be there every step of the way. that's my absolute commitment to the people of the state of florida. tate o florida.

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hurricane ian after slammed into the west coast of florida, with hundreds of thousands of tampa bay area remain without power. let's bring in alison who's on the ground there. what can people expect to wake up there too? >> when they wake up here, they will still be under a hurricane warning that is in effect for this area until 10:30. but they will probably wake up and have a bit of a feeling of relief because things here appear to have the not been as nearly as bad as they could be. there are hundreds of thousands of people as you said in this area who will wake up without power. local officials have warned people to still be very cautious to stay home as much as you can, because you could have situations where you have live power lines that are down in the streets. last night there was one moment captured by tampa police when a

streetlight fell and just collapsed because of the wind. all of that could be issues that people need to deal with when they wake up. a lot of people are gonna be waking up and saying, okay this wasn't nearly as bad as we were expecting, and hopefully officials will be turning their attention to helping other floridians. >> all right alison barber in tampa, florida. start signing a sigh of relief, down power lines. it could've be >> especially double digit storm surge as well. all right, in charlotte county on florida's east coast, -- officials warned of severe and threatening storm surge 8 to 10 feet above. here's a public information officer for charlotte county. thank you so much for being with us at this hour. when i ask you about pensacola and there was -- it was slam so hard yesterday

and today. what are you hearing about a threat to human life, injuries and damage assessments so far? i know it's early, but what are you hearing? >> we are starting to hear some of the damage coming into. our first responders are off the streets right now and we are just waiting for the winds to subside, so where it's safe for us to go out there. once that happens, we'll hit the streets, we'll have our public words departments there. they can go in and know the main artery, so they will get those clear. our first responders will be right behind them doing assessments, doing search and rescue operations and that's the type of activity out there. public works crews will be clearing the roads so we can operate and our message is the same. stay off the roads, i know people want to get out there and see, but right now it's dangerous and plus we don't

want residents out there kind of clogging up the roadways when we are trying to still do search and rescue and assessment in that kind of thing. >> based on initial calls, do you have any idea of the scope of what is ahead? >> there is a lot of unknown. we are bracing for the worst. we got premature directed, charlotte county directed, so some of my coworkers at information coming back to them that their home is destroyed and, here working in the call center providing information and talking to others trying to reassure them as well. so i think that as this progresses, we will see more of that. some of us haven't been able to hear directly from family members, but there are a lot of family members who were emailing in. by family didn't evacuate, can

you look at that, we've had hundreds of those types of calls. hopefully we'll be able to work through those, but it will take time. >> that's gonna be the difficult part of the next few hours. accounting for everyone, loved ones, and when people can eventually go back to the homes to see what's left. tim dunn a, public information officer for charlotte county. thank you for your time, hope union families. stay safe >> we'll have continuing coverage on in throughout the morning. but >> first a quick check and other major headlines including, a shocking death of the rap icon khalil. that's next. that's next.

our special coverage of her again in continues in a moment but first, here's some of the other headlines that are making news at this hour. vice president kamala harris is right now visiting the demilitarized zone between north and south korea. the vp will tour the area after

receiving a briefing from commanders a meeting with u.s. soldiers. it's a second and last leg of her asia trip. earlier this week she visited japan attending the funeral of slain former prime minister shinjiro abe. looming is the nuclear threat from laura's north korea. on saturday, the regime fired a short-range ballistic missile. >> the hip-hop world is rolling it and i go from the death of rapper coolio. the manager confirmed the artist pass to the friends los angeles home. according to the associated press, no cause of death has immediately been made public. some of wrappers big names are offering their condolences. ice cube, tweeting quote resting gangsters paradise my friend. cooley rose to fame in the 90s with his grammy winning gangsta's paradise also recording the theme song. julio was 59 years old. >> new york yankee slugger

aaron judge, he swung his way into the record books last night. among >> and the three to. to left field. this could be it! sia he's done it! number 61! he's been chase >> after seven games without a home run but judge finally blast that 61st of the season tying roger maris is 61 american league record. his home run lifted the blue jays over the 8 to 3. if seven more games to break the record. yankees return home tomorrow for three game set against a baltimore roars. >> when we return, we will check back with michelle, who's been charting the path of the storm throughout the night. ughout the night

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coverage of hurricane ian as the storm moves through the southwestern part of the state down to central florida. let's check in with nbc meteorologist christine grossman to see where the most threat is. good morning again michelle. >> good morning. the biggest threat now is rain. continuing rain as we head through thursday and friday. flash flooding, life-threatening flash flooding. we're seeing heavy rains falling right now, we see the darker colors that's the heaviest rain, and it's going over the same areas. portions of central florida for life-threatening flash flooding. we did see it moving rivers, lot of shots from reporters, we'll see that once again today. houses damaged, houses washed away, especially along the coast. we're looking and some places 24 inches, 30 inches in some spots. the wind will be a big story today, gusting to hurricane-force again. back to you. guys >> we shall thank.

you more than 2 million are without power and decimation across the state. we'll have more after this break. after this break.

many residents have evacuated from their homes on the coast in polk county florida michael music joins us now about how is harry's weathering the storm good morning michael how are you and your people ferrying as we near the 3:00 hour on the east coast. >> good morning. we are doing well, we have been pummeled by rain constantly is making the ground soft and these high winds are weak-ing

havoc. >> certainly the case when you have winds, you see damage to roofs, trees, power lines down et cetera, but water is a very different beast when it comes with a hurricane in these storms. talk about the residents there and what you've been hearing from them's especially in the overnight hours and their concerns. >> thank you. my wife and i drove by about 9 pm last night to kind of look at the damage and get her eyes on the ground and we're seeing a lot of trees down, a lot of large branches. i happen to be in the roofing business so i have i open and i had a lot of people reach out to me with photos and videos of tree damage and wind damage. it's honestly still not over. in my area we're still getting 60 or 70 miles per hour winds and the rain is not stopping. >> how long do you expect

evacuees to be displaced from their homes when. do you think it'll be back safe to go back necessity homage? >> one of the individuals that works for us, her parents came over from the seat p clearwater area. and the pictures that they, have the water is up into the house. they have forced, mandatory evacuations. so, i think they're going to wait for the all clear and go back. it breaks my heart, a lot of people are coming back to devastation. >> a lot of damage ahead, but we are thankful for the safety, you, your family, and the residents there. all right, michael music, lakeland city commissioner. >> all right, certainly the case for so many people as they -- overnight, i can't imagine people be in bed at this time of the anxiety and into spain what's to come once they are able to see what this storm has brought. >> i think, right, is making

sure you are okay, everyone's okay. and now, that's their next thought, what is the house like? they're gonna go back, and how high was the water? and what needs to be replaced? and just how long will it take to recover? >> the rally is there are some people who are going to come back home to no homes, with utter devastation as we continue our current -- coverage of hurricane ian. thank you for watching the special edition of early dish. and i'm frances rivera. and i'm phil -- don't go away, continuing coverage. ontinuin coverage plan a didn't work out? get plan b one-step. plan b helps prevent pregnancy before it starts, and it won't impact your ability to get pregnant in the future. find it yourself in the family planning aisle no prescription, no id.

i've got this. ♪♪ ♪ ♪ away suitcases are designed with 360-degree spinner wheels. ♪ ♪ so you can go with the flow. ♪ ♪ this is storm surge. this is the ocean coming into. naples there is no delineation anymore between the gulf of mexico and naples. >> there is the wind speed, as i'm standing next to a building. somewhat protectively. so, i will take a knee. if i can take a knee here. >> we both have to take a neo-. there you know, sides blowing over, debris flying around. >> about 90% of our c