but we're hearing early reports of what maybe substantial loss of life. i should note i have spoken with the governors and mayors and commissioners. i spoke with the commissioners and mayors and they are worried, but they are telling me what an incredible job is being done to save their stirks their towns, their ports, their bridges, et cetera. and in the face of serious danger, search and rescue operations got underway before dawn this morning for people stranded, who are in desperate shape. water rescue is critical. coast guard deployed 16 rescue helicopters, 6 aircraft and 18 rescue boats and crews. that's just one element of the many federal search and rescue teams that the prestage in florida.

the governor talked about how impressed he was. these are dangerous missions. i'm grateful for the brave women and men in federal, state and local governments working as one team risking their lives to save others. and we're going to learn a lot more in the coming hours. but we know many families are hurting. many. many are hurting today. and our entire country hurts with them. because it's been all over the country we have seen so many crises. but in florida today, it's the epicenter. we're continuing to see deadly rainfall, catastrophic storm surges, roads and homes flooded. we're seeing millions of people without power and thousands hunkered down in schools and community centers. they are wondering what's going on left. what's going to be left when they get to go home. or even if they have a home to go to. some of the folks have been through this before. but that doesn't make it any easier. it makes their anxiety even higher, in my view. my message to people of florida,

times like this, america comes together. we're going to pull together as one team, as one america. first thing this morning when i talked to governor ron desantis and offered the fullest federal support. i approved his request for the prelandfall emergency declaration to provide direct federal assistance to the state for emergency protective measures to save lives including search and rescue and shelter and food. i approved the most recent request for major disaster declaration. that means the federal government will cover 100% for all the cost the state has to engage in and expend to save lives. the federal government will also cover the majority of the cost of rebuilding public buildings like schools and fire stations. and folks in florida who have

destroyed or damaged homes, st means the federal government will provide $$37,000 for home repairs and another for lost property. everything from automobiles to loss wedding ring. that's what we mean by lost property. i have also spoken with mayors across the state both republican and democrat and you told them the assignment thing, we are here. and whatever i need, i indicated to call me directly at the white house. they know how to do that. we're going to do everything we can to provide whatever they need. we have dispatched over 1,000 fema personnel and prepositioned major federal capacities and capabiliies in supplies. that includes millions of leaders of water, millions of meals, and hundreds of generators. and deployed dozens of search and rescue teem taems along with

high water vehicles and rescue helicopters to help get survivors to safety. thousands, thousands of national guard members have been activated. and on my direction, the department of defense is providing search capacity on multiple fronts in support of fema's efforts. i also want to say again to everyone in ian's path, the danger is real. please obey all warnings and directions from emergency officials. and while the water is receding, don't go outside unless you absolutely have to. it's risky for you. and it um peeds first sonders from doing their job. i also want to say to the oil and gas executives. do not, do not, do not use this storm as an excuse to raise gasoline prices or gauge the american public. the price of ail oil has dropped in recent weeks. the price of gas should be going down as rapidly. it's not. my experts inform me the

production of only about 160,000 barrels a day has been impacted by this storm. that's less than 2% of our country's daily production. it's small impact on oil production provides no excuse, no excuse for price increases at the pump, period. the gas station companies try to use this storm to raise prices. i'm going to ask officials to look into whether or not price gouging is going on. america is watching. and the industry should do the right thing. i expect them to do the right thing. and while we're seeing the devastating images in florida, i want to be clear. to the people of puerto rico, we're not gone away. i am committed to you and the recovery of the island. we'll standby you for however long it takes to get it done. i know the folks here at fema and across the federal government are working nonstop

around the clock. that's why finally i want to thank the first responders, the national guard, the coast guard, service members, and the search and rescue personnel for working to get people to safety and to restore power, water and phone lines. and i want to thank everyone here at fema and other federal personnel. i have seen you in action across the country. from the west coast to the northwest to the northeast, down to louisiana, all across this country. and just in the last two weeks, you have been working 24/7, to matter what, fema is always there. you deserve the nation's gratitude and full support. and right now if you're in the national guard, you can still keep your job. but if you're in a fema reserve, that's not the case. that's why earlier this morning, i signed into law the bipartisan crew act. championed by the senate by gary

peters and rob portman. and we signed it. that law will ensure that fema reservists have job protection just like military service. just like military service. so when you're called up to help with a disaster, you can now focus on that mission without worrying you might lose your job, your day job or receive some other penalty because of this national service. that's what the crew act guarantees. it's going to help people become more civilian reservists out there. it's going to make fema stronger. it's going to make america stronger. that's who we are. every time disaster strikes, emergency crews from all over the country, all over the country, from across the federal government show up to help like they are doing right now in florida. that's america. a country of women and men willing to serve, willing to

leave their own families to help a stranger's family. everyone hard at work in florida right now deserves our thanks. when the conditions allow t i'm going to be going to florida to thank them personally. i'll do our best to build florida back as quickly as possible. but we're not going to be leaving. we're going to build it back with the state and local government. however long it takes, we're going to get there. i want to turn it over to the secretary. >> that's my intention. >> thank you very much, mr. president. our hearts go out to the people in the affected areas. at dhs highest priority is life and safety. dhs is working with our federal, state, local, and nongovernmental partners to support the needs of the areas

that are and maybe impacted by hurricane ian. i want to thank the president for his leadership in signing the major disaster declaration that unlocks critical assistance to help jump start impacted floridians road to recovery. fema and the united states coast guard are focused on life-saving and life-sustaining response operations and we are launching the recovery mission. the coast guard has completed extensive preparations in advance of hurricane ian to minimize impacts to maritime commerce, ensure public safety, and position ourselves for a rapid response. currently, the coast guard is aircraft, cutters, flood response assets and response personnel staged throughout florida ready for immediate deployment. fema has teams in place who are ready to help those who need it most. we have thousands of our personnel deployed throughout the department of homeland security, not only from fema and

the united states coast guard, but also from our cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency and from tsa. today i will be activating the dhs surge capacity force. so that we can bring to bare additional personnel from across the department to support disaster survivors in florida. when a catastrophic event hits, dhs approaches response and recovery work with a full expanse of our resources and our capabilities. our work in support of those affected by ian will continue in the days, weeks and months to come. this is not just a here today and gone tomorrow. we are here as the president has articulated throughout the need for full recovery. in that regard, with respect to puerto rico as the president mentioned yesterday, i approve ed the temporary and targeted

jones act waiver to ensure that the people of puerto rico have sufficient diesel to run generators needed for electricity and the functioning of critical facilities as they recover from hurricane fiona. we are in it for the long haul. now it's my pleasure to turn it over to administrator chris wall of fema. >> thank you, mr. secretary. i would first like to begin by thanking the president for being here in fema's national response coordination center. this is the heartbeat of what we do right here. this is where we bring the federal family together. these are some amaing public servants. i would also like to thank the president for sieping the crew act earlier this morning. mr. president, behind us here are dedicated public servants from across the federal family. behind us are the dedicated public servants who have been working tirelessly day in and

day out to get help to those who need it most. these are the public servant who is put the needs of others before their own, and these are the public servants that we count on to respond to america's worst day. this is what the full force of the federal family looks like right here behind me. i'd like to recognize every single person here. as well as those on the ground in florida and those supporting from our region office in atlanta. for the extraordinary efforts that they have put fort during this emergency response. so we have been brought together here in a moment when millions of floridians are navigating the aftermath of what is going to be oneover the most catastrophic events they have experienced. my heart ax for those people who have been in the path of hurricane ian. for the lives that have been changed by this storm and the communities that will never be

the same. america woke up this morning to images like naples and cape coral submerged under water. homes across fort myers that have been torn from their foundations and boats that have been found blocks away from where they were at. but hurricane ian is still a life-threatening storm. we are expecting the storm to continue making its way to georgia, south carolina, and into north carolina. maintaining tropical storm force winds, deadly storm surge and rainfall up to 12 inches. as many have said, hurricane ian is going to be a storm we talk about for decades. but from the moment hurricane ian became a threat, we already had the right teams in place who were ready to answer the call of those that need us most. to the heroic first responders and search and rescue teams that

have been running towards danger to save lives, to the brave medical teams providing compassionate and life-saving care, to the local, state and federal emergency managers working side by side to tackle challenge after challenge, to our meteorological partners, who have been proviing us with kritd call weather data, hour after hour, and to the voluntary partners providing food and shelter to those who just lost everything. i thank you, all of you. we thank you, and our nation thanks you. we know the next few days are going to be difficult. we have some very complex problems to solve. but like i said, we have the right teams in place who are ready to help those who need us most. as i shared with the president just moments ago, search and rescue mags migss are already taking place across the impacted areas by land, air, and sea.

we have teams ensuring health facilities like hospitals and adult care facilities have the support they need to care for their patients or evacuate them if still needed. we have power restoration teams making their way into devastated communities that help bring communities back online. and while we are focused on life-saving and life-sustaining response operation, we are already launching our recovery mission. an interagency group is already planning for the long-term recovery needs such as housing, debris removal and critical infrastructure repair as we know this is going to be a complex recovery. as you heard already, the president signed overnight a major disaster deck ha ration that unlocks critical assistance to jump start the road to recovery. individuals and families right now in charlotte, collier, hardy, hillsborough, lee,

manatee, pinellas and sarasota can now register for assistance and begin their recovery process. you can register by visiting disasterassistance.org or by calling 800-621-fema. 1-800-621-3362. now that the sun is up and we are continuing to do our assessments, we will add more counties for individual assistance. the next few days, they are going to be difficult. we have some very complex problems to solve. but like i said, we have the right teams in place who are ready to help those who need us most. and regardless of how bad it is, i commit to everyone here today that fema and our partners across the federal, state and local levels remain ready and prepared to help these communities in their greatest time of need. thank you. >> het me add one more thing.

we didn't mention the rid cross. the red cross is there. they stepped up and continue to step up. so i want to thank them as well. >> how would you describe your relationship and your conversation with governor ron desantis? >> it's totally irrelevant, but i'll answer it. he complimented me, he thanked me for the immediate response we had. he told me how much he appreciated it. he said he was extremely happy with what was going on. this is not about whether anything having to do with our disagreements politically. this is about saving people's lives, homes and businesses. that's what this is about. i have talked to him four or five times already. and it's not a matter of my disagreements with him on other items. >> do you hold russia responsibilities for the rupture of the north stream pipeline? >> let's stick with this okay? >> there's a lot of important issues but we're here to talk about america. thank you. [ applause ]

>> president biden at a time of deep concern, even desperation for some people in florida. and the many people around the world frankly who have loved ones in florida. him laying out in front of those fema workers what the federal government is doing and intends to do overnight as you heard mentioned a couple times, signing a major disaster declaration, asked about his relationship with governor ron desantis, who maybe positioning himself for a run against joe biden. you heard the president say that's not the relevant thing right now. he's talked to him many times on the phone, both of them have a huge job ahead. you heard it from the fema administrator. this is going to be one of the biggest jobs they have ever had. some of the most complex problems they have ever had. one of the most, in her words, catastrophic events we have seen. i want to bring in carol lee at the white house for us. as you see with the array of

people who are there, this is an all hands on deck situation for the white house as well as the state of florida. >> reporter: that's right. we have heard that from the white house in recent days. the president reiterating that in his remarks. he also said that he will be going to florida when conditions allow. also adding that he also intends to go to puerto rico when the timing is right. but his warnings were stark. he said that early reports suggest that this could be a significant loss of life. the fema director saying the nine counties that were listed in the major disaster declaration, that could grow. they are looking to add counties to that as the storm continues to progress. they assess damage on the ground. she will be going there herself to florida, tomorrow the president said he had directed her to travel there to see firsthand what the needs are there. really this was designed to show that the president is in charge.

he's on top of this. it is the thing that has moved to the top of his priority list. so he ticked through a number of things that the federal government is doing in terms of assisting florida. he noted the call that he said he had with governor ron desantis. he was asked about the tone of that. he said it's ifr relevant, but answered the question saying that the two of them had a pleasant call. the governor was thankful and grateful for the assistance that he had and said that this is not about political differences. he also said at times like thrks america comes together and we're going to pull together as one team. that was notable in the sense that he, again was addressing how he had spoken with mayors across the state and that's something he's really emphasizing as well as the massive response that he's trying to orchestrate here.

>> carol, thank you so much for that. i want to get everyone update on the latest from florida. across many parts of the state at this hour, we're seeing desperate situations with people stuck in their homes and the water in some places still rising. rescue crews have been out since daybreak wading through flooded thabds, picking people up in boats. 911 centers have fielded thousandsover calls from people still trapped. some with life-threatening emergencies. take a look at this video from orlando. emergency evacuations had to be conducted at a nursing home. we're also getting reports of evacuations taking place at multiple medical facilities in the fort myers area. hundreds of patients forced to get out because of flood waters. and i'll be talking to the fire chief from fort myers in just a minute. now it's not clear how many people are still trapped, but keep in mind, there are some places that first responders simply can't get to at this point. take a look at theeds pictures. the barrier islands where

multiple highways are wrecked. here's what's left of sanibel causeway, where the storm surge washed away a big chunk of it. one of two bridges in that area that were severed. fema's rinse minute straiter says the damage in that area is catastrophic. and we have these brand new aerials from lee county, which took a direct hit from the storm. you can see a house on fire in the middle of the destruction. as of right now, there's just one confirmed fatality linked to the storm, but looking at these pictures and hearing the comments from the president, they are obviously is concern the number will go way up. we heard president biden say that there are reports of, quote, substantial loss of life. right now, lee and charlotte counties are in the words of governor ron desantis off the grid. 90% of residents there without power. across the state, more than 2.6 million people are in the dark. and ian isn't done yet. rain is still falling in

northeast florida, a record-breaking 16 irvelgs falling over a 24-hour period in orlando. and there are major concerns that heavy rain could lead to severe flooding in jacksonville. the storm is also expected to make a second landfall further north bringing heavy rain and wind to the carolinas in the coming days. so let's start in fort myers, where the associated press is reporting that hundreds of hospital patients are being evacit awayed in that area. in some places because of storm damage and flooding. in others because the hurricane cut off water supplies. so right now, i'm joined by the fort myers fire chief. chief, i know you have your hands full, so i appreciate you being with us. what can you tell us about these hospitals and these patients that need to be evacuated? >> yeah, our lee county emergency group is working with our hospital system to kind of work through that. they are hands on on that. the city is focusing more in the city. but there's water issues.

there's challenges. so everyone is doing everything we can to ensure those that are in the hospital system are well taken care of and those plans are coming together being executed even as we speak. but our lee county will be able to fill in some of those gaps a little bit more. >> i don't know if you can confirm or dismiss what our local reports. we have not confirmed it and that's why i'm asking you. but there are local reports in your area of bodies in the water. what can you tell us about that? >> we're a vast county. i'm actually the fire chief of the city of the fort myers. i the city of fort myers, we don't have that right now. we faired a little bit better than some of our barrier islands and some of the coastal cities. the city of fort myers, we had a lot of damage, a lot of flooding, but i'm happy to report from the city of fort

myers as it stands now, there has not been any of that found as far as fatalities. >> what about people stuck in their homes? are you responding to calls like that? >> last night we made the decision to get there and get after it in the middle of dark. as soon as the wind passed and got below 45, we ponied up and our staff, police, fire, got out there and made about 200 water rescues. getting into 4 to 10 feet of water to get people out and into shelter. we did that at night. so this morning we're trying to finish up the rest of it. >> 200 is an extraordinary number in a city of that size in such a short period of time. how backed are you still? when do you think the rescues might be completed welcome. >> we're still working through that. most of the folks that have been stranded are resolved and working around midnight last night. and crews worked all the way to

this morning and switched out crews to get more accurate. as far as we are in the city of fort myers, we actually have those folks who were stranded, which took a long time. it was a long storm that staid on top of us for a long time. we were able to get them out as quickly as we can and get them to shelters or to relatives and friends. >> i know you have been with the department for more than 20 years, so you have seen a lot in that period of time. have you had a chance to go out and assess the damage in your city or have you spoken to members of your department who have? how does it stack up to the kind of damage you have seen in the past? >> absolutely, our experience with charlie, irma, this was a bad one. ian was bad. it was tough on us, tough on the region. we're going to be dealing with this for years to come. i was able to go ut last night, i had to get boots on the ground just with the men and women out

there. have to be right this with them. then this morning with the city manager, we went out and we looked at all the areas and assessed it. now we're back upstairs making plans. >> when you talk about those plans, what are your priorities over the next 24 hours? >> obviously, people. we always put people first. we can replace buildings, we can replace structures. we can't replace people. we're looking at people first. then we're moving to water and power. such as things that can get us through to help those processes. but infrastructure is high on the list right after people. >> we are in awe of the work you do. thank you so much. we wish you luck going forward. throughout the hour, we're going to be getting live reports from across florida.

right now, shaq brewster is in jacksonville, where there's heavy rain, wind gusts and concerns about flooding. shaq, talk to me abts the risk to jacksonville right now. >> reporter: we just heard from the mayor here in jacksonville, who gave an update on the situation. one thing that he said is while people here are breathing a sight of relief, it's important to note it's too early to let down their guard. and you mentioned the flooding is the big concern here. because yes, you have the rain bands coming through. you have the consistent winds, sometimes significant gusts in this area. but the concern is what the combination of those effects does to the st. john's river. you're looking at video of that right now. we just got past the point of high tide. jacksonville is an area you hear from local officials they continue to reference hurricane irma. five years ago the downtown area was flooded. more than 500 rescues in this area at that time. tens of millions of dollars of damage just in the downtown area alone. while officials are saying it's

unlikely that those impacts happen again, especially at the track of the storm couldn'ts to move further east, they say folks are not out of the woods yet in the potential still exists for that to happen. so bottom line, officials saying that things are better here than they expected. there were some power outages, about 22,000 people lost power. that number is down to just about 6,500 now. that gives you a sense of how the wind, the sustained speed of the wind is not as high or high enough to keep the crews from working. but officials are saying don't take it too lightly. the threat extends not just through today, but the mayor said the threat for flooding extends truly through the weekend. >> shaq brewster, thank you so much for that. take care. i want to go to meteorologist bill karins. you heard what shaq just had to say. there's a lot of concern. this always happens. people want to know how is my house. people want to go back before

officials are ready to go back, before the threat is over. talk about the threat as it exists right now and will exist in the coming days. >> overnight, we saw a lot of flooding. and the last couple hours, we have had epic amounts of rainfall. daytona beach areas, that's where we have had upward 28 inches of rain. that's cray. so there's a lot of water issues. up the coast, we have a report from st. augustine that the storm surge in right now, along with the high tide is worse than hurricane matthew. one road has water completely covered. but it's still a problem up there on the coast. this is almost a hurricane again. they expect it to become a hurricane later on this evening.

we're expecting landfall in south carolina as a hurricane. because it went down to a tropical storm, it's going to try to make a comeback because it's back over the ocean over some warm water. there's a shield of rain and that's my concern as we go throughout the next couple days. who is going to get the heavy rain. it's not like florida where it's the sandy soil. this is going to be heading into areas that are going to be prone to flooding. here's the forecast track from the hurricane center. become a hurricane tonight by 8:00 p.m. they take it pretty much north from there. as we go throughout tomorrow morning, this is 8:00 a.m. the category 1 storm. a lot of of the storm is going to be unbalanced. this isn't going to be your typical landfall. a lot of the heavy rain will be north. possibly here towards mirtd the beach. we'll see what they do. but i don't think the backside is going to have a lot to it.

landfall sometime this time tomorrow in areas in south carolina. then it rains itself out. so we have a couple issues. one is the storm surge, which we're looking at now in areas of jacksonville peach. the next high tide cycle will be tonight after midnight. this is worst case scenario. yesterday in naples, that was only 5 to 6 feet of water. so again, it's these areas that are low lying. and a moderate risk of flooding. and we are predicting the possibility of about 5, maybe 7 inches of rain where we get the landfall. so we're thot done yet. obviously, we have been showing pictures of the extreme damage on sanibel and fort myers and the fires burning. but our friends in south carolina, you need to prepare

and listen to emergency managers in dhas cayce they tell you to get out of harm's way. >> can i ask you about this president bush the pitures are so dramatic. you see that section of the causeway wiped out. you have tracked storms for years. we keep seeing and hear just the shear numbers how dvastating this subpoena z. what's going on here? help us to understand how this might be different than what we have seen in the past? >> we were comparing this one to charlie. but the biggest difference was the size. this was like twice or three times the size and it was moving slow letter. and the storm surge was able to build up more. we think this is going to end up close to 12 feet. that's a huge difference. that's a whole level and story of a house or a building that got damaged in this storm versus the other one. this is what you'd expect. this is the fifth most sbebs storm to ever make landfall in recorded history.

remember mike until mexico beach. there was nothing left. some of the storms we have had lately. it was wiped out. there was nothing left except the pylons from houses. unfortunately, ahead of the storm, we were yelling at people, don't stay. get out while you can. it was because we knew what it was going to look like afterwards. now we're just starting to hear some of these horror stories from people that were riding out the storm that survived it. we'll see how many people didn't survive. hopefully a lot of people did. but usually in situations like this, with storms that are that strong, the fatality numbers are usually fairly significant. >> i got to tell you, let it serve as a warning. they saw the causeway and wrote this. the pasmt is folded up like an accordion, ripped to ribbons by

a powerful storm surge. nearby a spiral staircase was deposited in the brush next to a white pickup. it flung a boat trailer and other debris too. >> it's going to be a big test. the army corp. of engineer is going come in. i have seen the sections from the air. it looks like someone dropped a bomb. it will be interesting. that's the only way on to sanibel island. it will bes interesting to see how long it takes them to put up something temporary to get relief out there. they have to count on ferry service to bring supplies and food and water out there to the island for anyone still there. >> bill karins, always appreciate your fine work. thank you so much. and much more to come on this historic storm. we expect to hear an update from ron desantis just moments from now. but right now, dark skies and waves over port richie, florida. major floods and power outages across the state. we're going to speak with the

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right now, millions of people ray cross florida are facing the destruction from the storm now tied for the fourth strongest direct hit on record in that state. the wind and rain so intense in sarasota, it literally blew parts of the roof off at the airport. i want to bring in the vice may yar of sarasota, who is on the phone for us. it's good to talk to you. the sheriff told us they have been getting hundreds of call rs for service. what are you hearing and what do the people in your city need most right now? >> right now, good afternoon, first of all.

but right now, we're in the recovery phase. we have emergency units in both the city and county out assessing the damage done by hurricane ian. so that's where we are right now in terms of assessing the damage in the recovery phase of this point of time. but you hear a lot of stories of power being out. no internet and things of that nature. i haven't heard much about anyone being stranded. and we just restored the barrier islands. so they will be good to go and get back into their homes very shortly. there's a lot of trees down. a lot of downed wires, a lot of downed poles and so on that block the access to a number of

streets. not allowing certain people to get to their homes. but we have been blessed to be honest with you. nothing compared to that of fort myers and our thoughts and prayers and heart fwos out to the people of fort myers and everyone down in that area, sanibel and naples and so on. >> you have a map on the city website. i was checking it before we went on the air. at the point i looked at it and green was supposed to mean it's safe for people to g go home. all i'm seeing is red and low. and understanding it could have been worse. and understanding that people are desperate to get back to see how their homes faired. what are your biggest challenges? what's your message to people who want to get back? pz. >> just hang in there. wit just want to make sure that

when they make the decision to go back or allowed to go backs, we want to make sure they are outs of harm wees way. we're doing everything and working dilly as one hand. so make sure that all the access point so on are safe and safe passage. and i can totally understand everyone wants to get back to their homes. i was fielding calls and all last night. and can i get back to mill home. do i know if i have power and so on. i just expressed to them just to hang tight. it won't be long. our teams are on it. and my hat is off to our emergency respond team.

they have been out here tloult this storm. even in the middle of this storm. they are trying to make sure that our citizens are well taken care of. i can totally understand everyone wanting to get back to their homes and property. can totally understand. my message is to just hang tight. it won't be long. >> you were kind thuf to send a photo that you were able to take. it shows a downed tree on a home. give us a little lay of the land of sarasota itself for people who have not been there for your community. where the areas are in that city that are most concern. >> now the whitaker bayou area is primarily in my district as commissioner of this area.

so the way that it's laid out, it's like three minutes from the airport. so the roof was torn off. we're right down the street. so that's where that is. ask then it's maybe a mile or so up the road. that's where the the barrier islands are. that's out to long bo tee and so on. sarasota is a beautiful place. it doesn't do it justice at all. there's just debris everywhere. my yard looks like a war zone. it looks disastrous. it probably looks better on the outside than the inside. but other than that, i haven't heard of any real water damage, water intrusion.

although i'm sure there are, but i haven't heard of any massive flooding. i know there are areas where there's standing water. so you managed to escape in that part of it. so just a number of downed trees. and some home damage, due to trees and poles and so on. so those are primarily the things that i have been hearing. but it's literally like a body of water, which is a canal. then like right on the other side of the street is the bayou. and they both feed out into the bay of sarasota.

so that's how that's designed just to give you some what it may look like. the people here are beautiful. the one thing i can say coming out and assessing what's going on, the one thing that i do see ises people helping one another. and going over to up the street and with the chain saw to help them cut up limbs or trees and to get it out of their yard. so the cisis brings us together like that. everyone is out here pitching in. i was in new york city during 911. pretty much the same tone, the same emotion. neighbors helping one another

and just putting all the nonsense aside. and working for the better good. it's good to see humidity come together like that. so i can say that. >> i'm so appreciative of first of all you affirming that. because it is one of the extraordinary things that i know we'll continue to see in the days and weeks to come. and that little bit of self-deprecating humor about the mess, we appreciate that too because we need to smile as well. i thank you, vice may mayor, for taking time with us. we wish you good luck moving forward. and again, thank you for giving us a momentary smile. we appreciate you. and much more to come on tropical storm ian and its impacts. right now this is a tree town on a house in pinellas park. we'll go there arrive next. we're also expecting to hear from florida's governor. that's scheduled for just a couple minutes from now. lots of updates we're looking for. stay right here on msnbc. ere onc

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will give an update on what they're doing, but from the minute they've been able to get in here, they've been working to get people connected again. we also talked to two of the major ceos about restoration services and fortunately some of the infrastructure is okay and they do more with the cell phone towers, to be able to help to restore communications, and we've got an enormous amount of food and water that is either here, or is very close, on the way. life safety of course is

critical. anyone stranded on one of the barrier islands, we want it make sure they're safe. and i know here in charlotte, and in the neighborhoods that experienced a lot of wind or water damage, these folks are there, and they're working to make sure people are safe, and that is true in lee and collier county as well. so that's really, really important. we also got to stabilize the area with these key services. so we've got a huge amount of resources that have been brought to bear here, to be able to do that is correct and we will continue doing it. this will be a 24/7 operation because we realize how important it is. we also understand there's a lot of people who have asked what they can do to help the people of the state of florida, particularly down in this region, and the first lady will talk in a minute but we have a disaster fund.org, text disaster 20222, and you can make a contribution. at the end of the day, we've got supplies that have been pre-staged that are being used, and that's important. we don't necessarily need people to send us stuff.

what we need is to be able to help those relief organizations help the folks. i mean there is obviously, we're surveying the damage right now, some people have evacuated, they will go back and look at their homes and see if there is flood damage, is there wind damage, will it be inhabitable. and all of those things that has happened, we will get a clearer picture of some of the unique needs that people in this region may need and your financial contribution can make a world of difference and we're excited that so many people, i think we're already $2 million in less than 24 hours and i know many more people want to help, and i'm impressed with the resiliency we're seeing here in charlotte county. this is not anything anyone wanted to deal with. if you go back three, 72 hours before landfall, most of southwest florida was not even in the cone, and then you have the situation where you're dealing, you're staring down the barrel of a hurricane making landfall 155 miles an hour. so the response here, and just the way people have reacted has

been very, very impressive. we understand this is just the beginning. there's a lot more that's going to need to be done in the state of florida. and it's going to be good partners with the folks here at the local level. i'm going to let the first lady talk about relief efforts and then we will have kevin guthrie and then eric from fp & l will give an update on the power situation. >> just to echo that we're so proud of the people of southwest florida, the resiliency and the courage and strength that you're exhibiting, the people here at the emergency operations center, and frankly, people across the state of florida. we just couldn't be more proud of what you have done to support your fellow floridians, and also the people across the country. so the governor mentioned a second ago, the disaster recovery fund, the disaster recovery fund.org, you can donate there 503 c 3 -- 501(c)(3), why that is important we can get those resources and micro them to the ground as

quickly and as efficiently as possible. this morning, we will reiterate this, we will cut through red tape and bureaucracy because we know people niece head to funds need help. and you can text 20222 disaster, and those funds will go to the same spot and we will be able to deploy those resources. on behalf of the first responders, the people of florida, the erc, thank you to the people across the state and the country for stepping up big. we are at $1.6 million less than 24 hours after we launched the fund. that was at 8:00 a.m. this morning. we are well over $2 million as of a little while ago and i think we will have more funds at the end of the day and that goes directly to the great people here in southwest florida and all the way across the state. so god bless you. >> thanks. and some of the responders who are ready, the storm has got to go before you can really get in, there because it is very hazardous and some of these guys

are coming across alligator alley like midnight, like literally knocking on the door of a tropical storm to be able to get in to help people. so you look at these teams that we've had over from miami-dade, and we want to thank them, thank the national guard, thank the coast guard, they've been able to do a lot of successful missions already, and it's really been great to see everybody working together, part of the reason that happens is because of the coordination at the state level, and that's under the direction of kevin guthrie who is our emergency management director, he will provide an update. >> thank you, governor. so i got here first thing with the governor, talked to the fire chief, talked about the resources, and obviously everyone very thankful for the resources and a handful of missions have come up in just the last couple of minutes and we are following and mobilizing the personnel for the mission.

and also providing the resources. one of those is a generator. so that is already been sourced and already been mobilized and we hope to have that by midnight tonight. and a mechanic for the generator in question, having some issues, and only 30 minutes out. so i'm very, very proud of our logistics sections, meeting with management, they have been very flexible, and they have been very responsive, and our expectations, and mobile disaster, to have a mechanic almost 30 minutes away, when you make a request is fantastic. so that comes from great leadership. that starts with the governor. i really appreciate. that thank you, sir. >> great. part of the preparations for this storm was to have as many resources pre-staged that could go in and help with critical infrastructure like power. and we were able to go deep with some of the linemen in lake city and these are people coming from all over the country.

i mean they're coming from louisiana, alabama, texas, and we had over 42,000 at landfall, i'm sure there's more in the state right now and we are going back to tallahassee from lake city, you know, you saw truck after truck after truck, on i-10 eastbound, coming in, to be able to help respond to this. and part of the reason we're able to do that is because we've got a lot of utilities that this isn't their first rodeo, and they take this very seriously, and they have learned from past storms, and they put that knowledge to good use, and so florida power and light has the biggest footprint of personnel that have been brought into the state to help get everybody back, and eric is here, the president of fpl, and he is going to provide an update on their efforts. >> thank you, governor. so we have about 20,000 crews deployed across the state of florida, just to remind you, the storm is still battering northeast part of the state, and

daytona is being hit right now, 1.2 million customers out of power, but we have been able to restore over 700,000 customers before the storm has even left the state and we will continue to work 24/7 to do so. i'm actually pleased with parts of the system that i've seen a little bit furthert to west of here. it is in good shape. at fpl, we did lose one single transmission tower. so that is critical. the backbone is up and operational. we are in the process of getting the distribution system back up and the substations that had flying debris going into them cleared out, so we can get them back online. there are sections of our territory, close to the beach, along the barrier islands, that will require rebuilding. there is some destruction that simply can't be repaired and they have to be rebuilt. unfortunately, there are homes and businesses that will simply not be able to take the power once it is ready. but the 20,000 plus men and women who are already here are