catastrophic impactings of hurricane ian, if that's going to be something that's going to be necessary. we have been granted 100% federal assistance, category a and b up front for 30 days to ensure we can b quickly move forward into this response and recovery situation. fema has, as i mentioned, activated individual assistance for those in need of help who qualify. you go to fema.gov or you can call 1-800-621-3262. make sure you take a picture of the water line in your home because if you can show that we're able to get assistance to you faster. as people have emerged this morning, particularly in the areas that were hard hit, just understand this is still a hazardous situation. those folks that were in there in the wee hours of the morning were taking big risks as first responders navigating this. you have power lines that are

down, you have trees that are down, you have a lot of hazards right now. we do anticipate a lot of the water will subside in some of the barrier islands, in some of the coasts, but some of those inland places off rivers and off these inlets, you know, you're likely to have standing water there throughout all of today and even in the days ahead. so that is a hazard and just please be aware that that is something that you -- if you weathered the storm to this point, going and doing and getting involved in that is just totally not worth it, and we want to minimize any harm to anybody as a result of what we're seeing right now in the streets. we have had 26 states provide support. we really appreciate that. it's going to be put to use. this is -- i don't think we've ever seen an effort mobilized for this many rescues this quickly. but we appreciate it and we will make good use of it. we want people to be safe. those who have -- who are in need of life support right now,

help is on the way. what they were able to do is look to see where the areas that were the hardest hit and they've been focusing assets there. so obviously the barrier islands, but then you also have places along these different inlets and different rivers where people said the water was rising, they were calling into the county or calling 911, and so they have a pretty good sense of where those calls were coming from, and they're focusing their rescue efforts on those areas that were most hard hit. again, i just want to thank the urban search-and-rescue teams, the national guard, the state resources, and the coast guard for, you know, not waiting around but going in there and understanding that time is of the essence and we have a lot of people we need to help. for those looking to help, people say what can we do, well, the first lady is spearheading our efforts with volunteer florida to activate the florida disaster fund where people can

donate. it's much better to donate financially rather than sending items. we've got a lot of items, and that resource is -- financial resources can really help people get their unique needs met. we have everything we need in terms of supply, but if you go to florida disaster fund dot-org or text disaster to 20222, you can provide some much-appreciated assistance. if you want to volunteer, you have official volunteer portal at volunteerflorida.org to find volunteer opportunities. the impacts of this storm are historic, and the damage that was done has been historic, and this is just the initial assessments. there will be a lot more assessing that goes on in the days ahead, but i think we've never seen a flood event like this. we've never seen storm surge of this magnitude, and it hit an area where there's a lot of people and a lot of those

low-lying areas, and it will end up doing extensive damage to a lot of people's homes. so there's going to tb a lot of work to do. today is about identifying the people that need help, who may still be in harm's way, but also beginning the process of rebuilding some of the things that we need, to have services restored, to have fuel and to have the things that people need in terms of communications. i want to thank kevin guthrie for having these assets ready to go. we're going to use every bit of them. and we're going to be there until all the tasks are completed. so, kevin, you want to come up and give an update? >> thank you, governor. thank you, first lady, for your leadership across the state. going into a little more detail this morning, obviously as tropical storm ian continues to move across central florida this morning we have damaging winds and extreme rainfall expected throughout the northeast florida

and central florida area. i want to emphasize the storm still poses a major threat to the state including central florida right now and northeast florida. orange county fire rescue is actively conducting nine wide-area search responses on the water for rising water in the central florida area. that is happening right now as we speak. at this time, the division has received more than 1,500 resources -- i'm sorry resource requests from our local impacted partners, and we have filled or are in the process of filling 1,300. as the governor said, there are 300-plus truckloads of food and water that have been loaded out and they are mobilizing to leave to the southwest florida area right now. in addition to portable -- in addition to the issues with cell phones, we are deploying cell phone towers as the governor mentioned, over 100 assets in that arena alone.

we want to reinforce and we appreciate the fact we have received over 1,500 inputs to our shelter in place system. so we want to encourage you, if you are sheltering in place or you know someone that has sheltered in place and you know we need to check on them, please register that individual or register yourself at floridadisaster.org/report. that's floridadisaster.org/report. we have made that more specific. yesterday it feels info, but we made it more specific so you didn't have to hunt around for that site. for the third time, floridadisaster.org/report to complete the shelter in place survey. i want to reiterate that is not a replacement for 911. if you are in an emergency situation, you need to call 911 in your local area.

our logistical staging areas in central florida have all the additional resources that we need to respond. we have tarps, we have medical supplies if needed in those warehouses. we want to make sure that all the available resources can get to the residents as quickly as possible. we are obviously in a situation now where we are starting our 72-hour clock, and that 72-hour clock is that we search first, we secure, and then we stabilize. so that is what the focus of the state of emergency response team is going to be over the next 72 hours. again, that is search, secure, and stabilize. i thank the governor and the first lady for their continued support. they've been here around the clock. >> okay. first lady. >> i want to say on behalf of the governor and myself, everyone here who's working at the emergency operations center,

the men and women who have not left since the disaster began, to our first responders, i want to say thank you because the people across the state and the country have stepped up big to support our florida disaster fund. so far in less than 24 hours since we launched the fund, we've raised $1.6 million. i am in constant contact with two folks, one, the people of volunteer florida, to pledge that we are going to remove any red tape and bureaucracy from getting those funds deployed to the people who need them immediately, and then also we're working with a lot of businesses across the state to continue to build bonn that. thank you to the people across this country and the state for stepping up to help wonderful people who are in need. again, there's a couple of ways that if you want to continue to donate, you can go to floridadisaster fund.org or you can text disaster to 20222. on behalf of so many wonderful people, thank you for stepping,

up, and please continue to do so. >> we've been hearing from the florida first lady amend now the florida governor is speaking. he's talking about all the assets that are putting in place to try and respond to hurricane ian. we are listening to this news conference because we want to get to the part where we can get the latest on any types of injuries or fatalities or any other trouble spots in the state that are still live rescue situations or even beginning to be live rescue situations because, again, this storm has been so severe, the winds have been so severe, the storm surge has been so huge, the flooding has been historic, so it's been difficult to even start rescues. so, just recapping what the governor did say, there are active rescue missions under way right now. they're evacuating two health care facilities. we know about that and also nine hospitals that are without water at this hour. we also have reports from the

"tampa bay times" of a hospital in port charlotte that have the e.r. completely flooded, the icu had the roof ripped off, and they had to evacuate severely ill patients on ventilators. lee and charlotte county according to the governor basically off the friday in terms of power. a lot of infrastructure damage in those two counties. the power grid will need to be rebuilt. communications obviously disrupted, especially throughout lee county and charlotte county. that's cape coral, ft. myers. he said there are bridge inspectors spanning out across the state, but, again, how to get to these areas is one of the big challenges right now. i hear the governor is talking about more relevant issues. let's take a look. >> yeah. but i'm really worried. of course those folks are now going to tb checked on, and so i think you'll have more clarity about that in the next day or so as they're able to go to those

locations and determine whether people need services or able to be rescued. my sense is that, you know, that water was very, very high, but my hope is that if folks did go higher, if they were there, it's not comfortable, but now we're in a situation, i mean, if you're there, they want to come get you. so hopefully we'll see a lot of those people brought to safety. i can tell you in barrier islands, there have been a number of people that have been helicoptered to safety and it's great because, you know, these folks sprung into action and they're doing it. we have had two unconfirmed fatalities in the sense that we don't know that they're linked to the storm. i mean, our assumption it likely is, so basically fdle will make that assessment and that will be reported. but that's what we have. that number that was put out by lee is basically an estimate of, hey, these people were calling, the water was rising on their home, they may not have ended up

getting through. so we're obviously hoping that they can be rescued at this point. and i know the folks there locally, those were the areas they wanted to spring into action to and they really used the information that was coming not just through those emergency calls but also signing up on the website. there's a pattern that's developed about where those calls are coming from and where those people are signing up from. you can see the areas. no one wants to see -- you see three foot of water in a road, that's obviously bad and there will be damage, but you see the place where is the water was four, five, six feet in a residential area, and that is really the life-threatening situation. >> details of what you're hearing from central florida as far as flooding and other damages? >> this morning at 5:45 a.m. i received a phone call from orange county emergency management director chief laura lee avery.

she's technically assigned to the fire department as a division cheech over the department of emergency management there. she called me to let me though that they were actively responding to nine widespread areas along the loan yal drive area, i-4, state route 46 area of central florida, and that they were requesting assistance for stuff we may have staged in orlando. so, very quickly this morning our overnight crew sprang into action and started moving national guard high-water vehicles as well as other assets that were staged there for urban search-and-rescue elements, and they started moving into action this morning. i do not have a total number of potential saves that they have done, but what it's linked to is the massive amounts of rainfall happening there. we were receiving reports that some creeks, tributaries, the area around the st. john's, headwaters around that area, unconfirmed, may have been

rising at about a rate to about 4 feet in a matter of hours. so lots of rain in the area, lots of instant action, walter rise. there's a lot of lakes in central florida, especially in that orlando, kissimmee area, and it appears that these lakes were filling up and overflowing into the neighborhoods around them. so that's what is going on in the central florida region. i will say as a part of central florida and also as a part of southwest florida, do not come in and tour the area for damage. we have 20,000, 30,000 responders coming in to areas that need access to those roads. stay at home. do not get on the roads. let the first responders have the roadways. let the power crews have the roadways. we will get things opened up exponentially quicker if we don't have to maneuver around individuals that are just coming into the area to look around. so, please, stay out of the area, both in central florida as well as southwest florida, let

the crews get in there, do what they need to do. we're coming in full force. we have a lot of people coming in there. we need you out of the way to get our job done. >> kevin guthrie, the head of florida's division of emergency management with a warning for people, stay off the roads, let the first responders and power crews do their job. we'll continue to listen to this conversation from governor ron desantis, who called the damage in his state historic, saying, "we've never seen a flood event like this, never seen storm surge of this magnitude." he called it a 500-year flood event, particularly as you heard from mr. grut rhee there in central florida. the focus clearly is on lee and charlotte counties when we talk about the coastal areas, basically off the grid was the way governor desantis put it. that's where the damage is. we want to go there to kerry sanders in hard-hit punta gorda, florida. kerry, good morning. what are you seeing there? >> reporter: we're here in charlotte county. there is no power here.

this is a community that did not get the storm surge. in fact, they got the negative storm surge. the water, because of the counterclockwise rotation and where the eye was, actually sucked all the water out of charlotte harbor, kind of a curious view. but as we're waiting to find out about those who may need to be rescued, there are the stories of the survivors. and one of those survivors is renee smith. she's joining us here now to talk about what her ordeal was like. first of all, i'm glad you're here. >> thank you. >> reporter: where did you ride this storm out? i did under the kitchen table. >> under the table? >> yeah. i made kind of a fort with pillows and blankets and hid under the table. before i hid, i had to protect my husband. >> reporter: your husband, kevin. >> christopher. >> reporter: i'm sorry. he's paralyzed from the chest down. >> yeah. he has metastatic prostate cancer that has metastasized to his spine. this week he became paralyzed.

he was at the hospital, but they released him to come home. >> reporter: how did you protect him and what was that like? >> that was terrifying. i took some blankets and i put holes in them with the scissors and zip tied them to the hospital bed and took aed by tarpaulin that had grommets and zip tied that over it and put pillows and plastic bags and duct taped them to the top of the sideboard, and then i put pillows between the sideboard and the window because i didn't want him to get cut you have to death if the window blew in. then i put a life jacket on him so if the water came he wouldn't drown, he would float. >> reporter: quite an ordeal for you to go through that. he's okay, right? >> he's alive. he's traum titzed but he's alive. he was supposed to have radiation on his spine on wednesday and that might have helped him to maybe walk again, but it got canceled. so we're hoping that maybe that will still happen. >> reporter: renee, as you're

here and it's just you and your husband, christopher, your daughter lives in nashville, what do you do next? i mean, your arm, i notice, is very weak, broken. >> yeah. >> reporter: what do you do next? >> i have to go home and feed my husband and clean him up and start my day as a caregiver, take my flashlight and go do my job. yesterday i wasn't a very good caregiver. most of the day i hid as he was scared that i wasn't there to comfort him. i was hiding. i was a coward. i was under the table. >> i think everybody can understand you did so much for your husband. >> but now it's time to be his wife again and go back and do what he needs. >> reporter: god bless you for that. >> so that's -- >> reporter: you were here for hurricane charley 18 years ago. >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: compare what the moments were like when they -- especially the back end of the eyewall came through. >> charlie had no back end. it was less than an hour. the sun came out and the eye,

the sun came out afterwards. there was no torrential rain. >> reporter: and the back end of this eye was? >> awful. awful, awful. long lasting, as powerful as the front. you could hear the chimney getting ripped off the roof and coming down right on the roof. >> reporter: the chimney came down? >> yeah. my chimney came down. i was afraid it was going to come through the roof and crush me even though i was under the table. >> reporter: were you able to look out or did you have shutters up where you couldn't look out? >> i didn't want to look out. i was too afraid. and it was dark. and i couldn't see anyway. and the rain was like a whiteout. even before when it was dark, it got dark in the middle of the day, like 3:00, 4:00. it was almost like nighttime. and when the rain started it was, like, snow. you couldn't see out the window ls for the few impact windows we have. the only place i could get a vista is upstairs and i know better, don't go upstairs. this morning i went up and could

see the chimney on the roof. i could see a bald eagle in my tree, the one tree that's still there. he was about two feet tall, big white head. he was my rainbow, just to see that he lived. i hope his family lived. >> reporter: renee, you have been through so much. i know you are doing so much for your husband. for anybody who understands what a caregiver has to do for somebody in the condition that your husband is or -- >> there was nobody else. >> reporter: i think people may not understand that that is truly a 24-hour job, and in the middle of a hurricane, it is just that much more. >> scary. >> reporter: you're very courageous. >> you're very kind. you're very kind. thanks for getting a hold of my daughter. it means a lot. >> reporter: yeah. we made a call earlier. her daughter didn't answer the phone, didn't recognize the number, but left a message. >> she and her dad are like two peas in a pod.

we were both first ch time parents and she was our world. i mean, she came into our lives and she was the most important thing that ever happened to us. >> reporter: she will be celebrating the news of your survival and i imagine she'll be down here to see you and help you out. guys -- >> thank you so much. >> reporter: thank you. i hope your arm does better. i want to hug you but i'm afraid i'll hurt you. >> they want to do surgery. if it's six months, he doesn't have six months. >> reporter: so, guys, i think when you hear the story of what one person went through, you can extrapolate that out to so many people who stayed put and endured. but truly dramatic for renee and her husband, christopher, unable to move, too heavy to pick up and move. what strikes me is the idea you put a life jacket on him just in case of a storm flood.

>> i made a bad joke too. i'm not a good humorist because my humerus is broken. i told him if the 18-foot storm surge came in, his body would float up and maybe the water would cure his paralysis. >> sometimes we call it dark humor. >> it is. but when the storm is going how can you think of happy humor? >> reporter: thank you so much. back to the studio. we appreciate your time and wish you good luck. we'll stop at your house in a couple minutes, give you water and help her out. a dramatic story here. >> it is. kerry, thank you very much for bringing that. his guest, renee, really showing all the different ways this storm took a toll on people even before it hit, the hospital of course sending her husband, who is terminally ill and in need of surgery to help him walk again,

sending him home, and rightfully. nine hospitals in the lee county area have no water. one hospital in port charlotte had the roof rimmed you have and the e.r. flooded andseverely ill patients had to be evacuated. this was an epic storm, epic even before it hit. one area hit particularly hard is southern sarasota county, where 14 inches of rain fell in 12 hours for what's being classified as a thousand-year rainfall event. joining us now, the mayor of sarasota, erik arroyo. thank you for joining us. i guess first the very latest, please, from your city. what do you know? >> power just came back on for our region, and we know that it's scattered, so not everyone has their powers back on. our number-one priority remains the safety of our residents. there's 200 instances of downed

trees or power lines that came down. there's phone number that will be provided in our social media report of new instances, if anybody needs to report a tree or a power line that came down. our barrier islands are still closed off. we've brought water back to the barrier islands. the next phase is to conduct an inspection to check if the water is adequate. we'll hold the bridges closed until there's an assessment to make sure we can open them back up safely. there are no reports of injuries or loss of life at this time, which is great news. there's 100 individuals from public works and parks and reconciliation that are right now working to clear the path on the road of any debris. our buildingment in or the and code enforcement are around at noon to conduct windshield assessments. actual assessments will take place on friday, and, you know, we are truly blessed we didn't get hit directly by this, but we are still feeling some of the

effects of it. last night, i mean, it just got worse and worse, wimds starting at, like, 60 miles an hour, going up to 78, 90, 100, and you just asked yourself this going to stop. but all of our residents are safe. you know, our hearts go out to the 250,000 individuals that are displaced in southwest florida. i mean, we know some of our police officers here in the city that can't get to their house, but it's been a great partnership with the county and our partners with the state government and the federal government, our u.s. senator, rick scott, governor desantis. everybody has been great. >> all right. sarasota mayor erik arroyo, thank you very much. as we continue to cover, willie, the two fronts of this storm, first of all, the fact that it's still moving over central florida and headed up all the way as far north as virginia, the governor there already

declaring a state of emergency, and also in the governor's news conference just a few moments ago, the reports are there is extreme rainfall expected and happening right now in central and northeast florida, dangerous levels of rising water in central florida right now. and then, willie, obviously the other point of this is what this hurricane has left behind and the situation in lee county is described as dire and the area is decimated. there's no reports of casualties now. but it's possible that could change. >> without question. we'll talk to the sheriff there in just a moment. it's clear in the coastal regions, lee and charlotte counties, governor desantis saying they're off the grid. it's not about reconnecting them. it's about rebuilding infrastructure to get power to these people. that's of utmost importance. mike and john, we were transfixed with renee smith there in punta gorda. we talked about wind speed and

storm surge and statistical measures of a hurricane, but then there's the human story, and that was just one of them playing out in homes across southwest florida right now, the love and the courage she showed for her husband, trying to save his life, feeling some guilt about not doing enough. well, she did everything she could do. that was incredibly moving. >> you know, in this age that we live in that we're all part of, the culture is so fast, it moves so quickly, that we sometimes quite often, too often lose perspective. and listening to renee smith, who was saving what is left of her terminally ill husband's life, the fight, the struggle to save his life that she just explained to us, if you're out there this morning watching this on tv, if you're listening to it on the car radio and you're stuck in traffic and you're swearing and you're grumbling, just think about what some people in southwest florida and throughout the state of florida are enduring today. there's that, willie, and

something else you raised earlier, and that is the work being done, federal, state, local, people out there assisting, the coast guard, the national guard, florida resources, they're doing something. they're getting something done. we have people on this program each and every day from washington, d.c., in the senate and the house and you talk about big megaproblems with them, national problems with them. and their answer are almost always well, we're having a hearing on that next week. well, there are no hearings in southwest florida today, no hearings in collier county, charlotte county, lee county, where they are off the grid and have to rebuild everything on the ground. there's only people doing their jobs. >> just getting things done from the governor all the way down to mayors, local officials, the head of the emergency management division there as well. john, that interview with renee and kerry was a reminder that even under evacuation orders

that's not so easy for a lot of people to just pick up and leave a place. sometimes the only solution is for them to hunker down. in the case of renee smith so basically fashion something on his bed she thought might save his life. >> and herself under the kitchen table. extraordinary the fear that came through but also the incredible bravery. she stayed with her husband. to your point, not everyone can go, as much as local officials urge them to do so. there are some who want to thrill speak. that's irresponsible. but some people can't. sadly, those are the stories we'll find out today as those search-and-rescue teams will be out. hopefully there will be more stories like renee where they got through it okay. the fear is what they may find. >> god bless her love and courage. we'll talk about the new action president biden took this morning to help speed the recovery in florida. live to the white house next on "morning joe."

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all right. 34 past the hour. the very latest from the governor's office in florida, the active rescue missions are under way in the wake of hurricane ian, which hit western florida as a cat 4 hurricane late yesterday. he says they're evacuating two health care facilities. there are nine without water. no reports right now of a large number of fatalities, but a lot of indication that there is a lot more information to come as certain areas are completely impassable, shut down, and two counties are off the grid in terms of power. looking forward to what is next, tropical storm now ian continues to produce cat traffic is

flooding in eastern florida as it moves north then will go up the east coast potentially as far as virginia where those states are now bracing for this storm's wrath. and it could, it could, some experts say, regain strength. the white house approved a disaster declaration for florida this morning as tropical storm ian makes its way across the state, leaving that path of destruction. it comes just before president biden's scheduled visit to the federal emergency management agency. for more, let's bring in white house reporter for politico and "morning joe" senior contributor eugene daniels. what is the latest in terms of what the government can do? >> reporter: the president obviously opened access and approved that declaration, the disaster declaration, overnight. that means the state can have a lot of access to this millions and millions of dollars in this fund for this exact issue. for regular folks that live in florida and the region, that means they have access to

temporary housing, that for the kinds of things that insurance doesn't pay for to fix their homes, there are loans for those kinds of things, so that is something that folks are definitely going to need as the recovery effort kicks off. but you said president biden is going to get an update from fema around noon today. he's also sending the fema administrator there today. she will be there to -- tomorrow, excuse me. she'll be there to look at the damage, survey what's going on and report back to this white house. president biden also spoke with governor desantis, the second time they've spoken in a couple of days, and talked with him about the kinds of things they will promise to do that the federal government will do whatever they need to make sure that the people of this state have what they need as they move forward in this recovery. the white house is obviously having conversations about when and if president biden will be able to go there. i will say, though, that a presidential visit sucks out a lot of resources, so that's

something people should expect for a while. i think folks are feeling like this is a good reminder that even at a tough time, it's a reminder that politicians at some point can put aside the nastiness and messiness of politics and make sure folks get what they need. that's what the white house is making sure happens. >> governor desantis spoke to president biden this morning, a disaster declaration for those nine counties. governor desantis saying they'll need much more than that as they move forward. eugene daniels, thank you so much. cameras aboard the international space station captured footage of hurricane ian as it moved into florida. look at the size of that. more than a foot of rain has fallen around the orlando area. joining us from there, blayne alexander. what does it look like as the sun has come up? >> reporter: well, first rain totals. more than a foot of rain falling. officials in orlando just gave an update and said in some

places the rain totals are as high as 16 inches of rain. that shattered the previous 24-hour rain total for here in orange county. and the unfortunate news is that, yes, we are looking at kind of a clear area right now, but we're expecting that rain to pick up again and continue at least through noon. so that's going to bring more of what we're already seeing, which is a number of reports of roads flooded. since the last time, we spoke with you earlier this morning, officials in florida have closed a part of the florida turnpike through orange county, a several-mile stretch because of flooding on the roads. they're urging people, one, saying if at all possible, stay inside. they say if you need to come out, go online to the florida highway patrol website and check road conditions. we're not just looking at flood bug debris, a lot of debris in the roads, branches, trees that have fallen down. just in what we've seen driving to this location getting out and about this morning, we've seen debris in the roads and water kind of overtaking parts of roads as well. that's only going to continue to

get worse. we know that there are sections of the highway that are shut down because cars were just stranded on an on-ramp there and a number of rescues had to take place. we saw a local reporter have to carry a woman to safety on his back. those are the types of conditions we'll continue seeing in orlando. the other thing that's important to mention, and it sounds like people couldn't worry about any more, when you're talking about the rain and the wind, but they are warning people strongly to stay away from live shots -- sorry, stay away from floodwaters because when you see those, they're also concerned about alligators, concerned about snakes, concerned about other creatures that people don't want to be near. already a few reporters have spotted some of those. they're warning people to stay inside your house, don't drive, don't get close to floodwaters because of reasons like that. >> add alligators to the long list of concerns. blayne alexander in orlando,

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incredible - meatballs, fresh mozzarella and pepperon- oh, the meatball's out! i thought he never fumbles. the new subway series. what's your pick? live look at cocoa beach, florida, as we are covering the path of now tropical storm ian who made landfall in southwest florida as a category 4, almost category 5 hurricane in the past 24 hours. and moments ago, florida governor ron desantis said that lee county, florida, is in a, quote, difficult situation. for more, let's bring in the sheriff of that county, carmine marceno. do you know anything at this point about fatalities in your

county? >> i can tell you it's been real rough and we eastern in a difficult scenario. we tracked the storm by second, by minute, by hour, unpredictable and fierce. it came through, a strong cat 4, two miles an hour under a cat 5, and it was very slow moving. it hit us really hard and now we're finally getting to the point of assessment. >> do you know anything about casualties at this point? i'm seeing reports the situation out of your county is dire. >> it's rough. right now we have multiple agencies from all over assisting us. a lot of times we have calls for 911 that we can't even access people because the bridges are compromised or the water level is way too high. so it's also so early to tell, i don't know the exact number. we really got hit hard. i will tell you we're assessing as we speak, answering calls, we prioritize our calls, and the safety and security of our residents is number one. i don't have a definitive number, but i can tell you as a

sheriff, you know, obviously, you know, protecting and serving is the most important thing and conservation of lives. i feel a breath of fresh air at every level, our governor, our senators, they have come to me for help and they're helping us do our job, which is huge. again, florida is great. we have great residents. we'll make sure people who need help get it. >> sheriff, thank you. you just pointed out you don't have confirmed numbers, yet you said on abc earlier this morning fatalities could be in the hundreds. is that based on reports you've received? >> you know, it could be anything. what i say when i say could be, we're assessing. we're assuming -- again, these calls coming in through 911, i know we have had, you know, some deceased. i don't know the number. i'm working on getting that number. communication is down a lot of time taos. so it's very difficult. it's very early. we're assessing and we will have much more information further down the road.

>> sheriff, governor desantis said your county is basically off the grid, not a question of reconnecting power but rebuilding power. how will that affect your efforts to assess what's going on out there and for your county to recover? >> the governor hit the nail right on the head. we are going to have to rebuild. the challenges with that is obviously lighting. we have structures that are compromised. we have businesses that are unsecure. but i can tell you this, we have strategically placed resources all over our county. it's about 1,260 square miles, one of the larger counties in the state of florida. the residents are going to be safe. we are people everywhere. we're going to make certain we guard our homes, our businesses, protect lives, and we will be out there. the message is also clear for any of those that are thinking of preying on ourp great residents, don't make that error. we're not going to allow it or tolerate it and you will be

incarcerated. we're ready for everything that comes our way. >> i hear you when you say help is on the way and it will get there when they can. but my understanding, and i'd love to hear specifics from you, for example, the nine hospitals apparently in lee county the head of fema are without water. what's the situation with the hospitals and being able to take care of patients during this difficult situation? >> last night i was at the eeoc as well and listening to some of the issues we faced. there was water that was compromised at the main mains, the suer mains, which obviously once we have a compromise in the piping system, we have to get there to fix it. now, identifying which one is difficult because it's submerged in water. and then more importantly, getting in and fixing it. so i know we worked hard last night. i was told that we fixed that issue. i don't know as of right now -- i have not been updated if there

are any other issues. but at every end, every angle, we're covered and we're going to make certain that -- again, we took a hard, hard hit. it's going to take a little bit of time to get on our feet and to assess and make sure we're doing critical things that are needed like the hospitals, like the protection and preservation of life. >> sheriff, you mentioned the issue of structural damage. how do you reach or can you reach the people out in seminole captiva if there are a lot of people left out there? >> so, we had calls come in from various location where is people who chose to stay during this event left their first floor, went to the second floor, some are in attics. it makes it very difficult -- again, the bridge has been compromised and we're looking at all that as we speak. we have strike teams that are going out from all over the state thanks to all our partners and our brothers and sisters in law enforcement that are assessing these areas, going out in boats, in possible jet sees,

using all-terrain vehicles. whatever we need to do, we are going to get there. it's just a matter of prioritizing the call and obviously getting to access the patients and people in need. >> sheriff carmine marceno of lee county, florida, appreciate you taking some time with us. i know you have to get back to work. check back in with you when you have a free minute. thank you so much for your time. we appreciate it. again, the sheriff clarify ing a bit saying they don't have exact numbers about fate taties. or casualties. the governor adding as well that that number of hundreds potentially is based on calls they had of people in distress. so we'll get clarification as the day goes on. and we'll continue our coverage, next on "morning joe." d we'll c, next on "morning joe." it's the greatest sandwich roster ever assembled. next is the new great garlic. the tender rotisserie style chicken is sublime

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a live look at orlando, florida, this morning. central florida and northeastern florida is now where tropical storm ian is positioned and continues to produce flooding in some areas catastrophic. so this storm is not over ask warnings coming from state officials that the amounts of water could be extremely dangerous from this tropical storm. downgraded to a tropical storm this morning, but it's expected to regain strength as it crosses the florida peninsula and into the atlantic ocean threatening georgia and the carolinas next. states of emergency have already been declared up and down the southeast coast from virginia to georgia. joining us now is acting deputy director at noaa michael brennan. thank you for joining us. first of all, tell us where the storm is now, where it's headed

and what is the potential for it regaining strength? >> right now, the center of the storm is just east of cape canaveral, but all of the hazardous weather is north of the center. you can see this huge shield of rain that's affecting areas from daytona beach to jacksonville, all of northeast florida. we have flash flood emergencies in effect for daytona beach. this is areas that are getting sustained winds of 60 to 70 miles per hour this morning. we're seeing that storm surge happening along the coast as well. the coast of northeast florida now with water into places like downtown st. augustine and pushing up to jacksonville beach. the forecast for ian is for the center to move out over the atlantic ask then turn northward, expected to make another landfall tomorrow in south carolina. we do expect ian to restrengthen and expected to be at or near

hurricane intensity as it reaches the coast. when you have the hurricane watch in effect from northeast florida all the way up to south carolina. >> we have seen the devastation continuing this morning as it hovers over central florida, as you say. looking ahead around the corner, what can coastal south carolina, coastal georgia expect as we move into friday and saturday? >> we're going to see winds move on shore into the coastal areas even as soon as later today and this evening. but the worst conditions are going to occur with the storm surge inundation. we have a storm surge warning for northeast florida up to past charleston, south carolina. we can see 4 to 6 feet above ground level. that's as tall as i am in places like charleston, savannah, up to northeast it'll. then we'll be dealing with the heavy rainfall. we could see rainfall totals as high as 12 inches in places like charleston, south carolina. 6 to 8 inches in southern north carolina, western north carolina. so we have this risk of flash flooding here, especially in the

red area, which encompasses most of north carolina. that's especially going to be the focus for the heavy rainfall on saturday with a broader risk of flashing flash flooding from eastern georgia up to virginia. >> that's an extraordinary amount of water that could be coming there. it is that time of year, though, where one hurricane arrives and you have to peek over your shoulder to see if another one is coming. any sense the forecast in the atlantic should any parts of the united states or some of the islands also hit by ian, should they be worried about another storm? >> we don't have any eminent threats that we see now for the next several days, but that being said, the peak of hurricane season lasts well into october. especially for the western part of the, the caribbean. it's too early to let anybody's guard down. we could have a potential for more storms to impact us as we go through the next month or two. >> acting deputy director at noaa's national hurricane center michael brennan, thank you very

much. and all day long we'll be taking a look here on msnbc at where this storm is heading and the epic flooding that it could leave in its wake as it heads north up the southeast coast of virginia. but also the devastation it left behind in places like lee county. i think kerry sanders guest today, one of the more movingers and views i have seen for this entire history-making storm. >> yeah, it was a story of survival. fighting for her own survival but to save the life of her husband, who has terminal cancer and was bedridden. she putting a life jacket on him and praying for the best. they did survive. but that is the story of the storm. it's a human story. but as we get more looks at different parts of florida, it's clear that lee county and charlotte county were completely overwhelmed and now you have all this flooding in central florida causing major problems as well. officials in the state of

florida all the way up to the government north saying this was an unprecedented flood event. we'll keep an eye on this and be back tomorrow morning. good morning, 10:00 a.m. eastern. i'm jose diaz-balart in bradenton, florida. one day after ian made landfall as a category 4 hurricane. this morning people up and down florida's gulf coast are assess ing the devastation left behind by one of the strongest storms ever to hit the state. president biden has declared florida to be a major disaster, and what is now tropical storm ian continues to move extremely slowly, about 7 miles per hour across the central part of the state. the president and governor ron desantis spoke again this morning and the fema administrator is expected to visit the sta