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 staging and getting on the field

currently, they will work 24/7, until we get the lights back on again, as the governor said, not our first rodeo, but every storm is also different and always face different challenges. and i appreciate all of the support from the state, governor, thank you, and from local law enforcement as well, the national guard, and this is a team sport, and a team effort, and we're going to all work together until we get florida back up on our feet, and where we all want to be. thank you. >> and when fpl and the other companies have crews in, the extent to which that infrastructure has remained is critical, because you know, it is a lot easier for them to reconnect an existing system than have to rebuild it, so to see some of that thats was able to withstand a hurricane, it is also just a testament, i mean some of these folks, put money into the resiliency of the infrastructure. and this is like the ultimate

test. when you've got a hurricane that is a massive hurricane coming in at 155 miles an hour, producing this type of storm surge, dumping rain, causing flooding, if you can make it through that, then you probably did pretty good. and this is a 24/7 effort to stabilize and to restore. and so we're going to do whatever we can to assist with that effort. and so i'm happy to take a few questions. >> along the barrier islands, we know that there is devastation -- what have you heard from the local agencies about restoring sanibel. >> sanibel is destruction, and for those who haven't been, there is a beautiful, beautiful place, really neat community, and it got hit with really biblical storm surge. and it washed away roads, it washed away structures that were

not new and could withstand that. there have been a number of people that have been identified and brought off the island safely, and those efforts are ongoing. not only with the coast guard has been involved with that, and our usar teams and as well as local law enforcement. i think most people have seen the images of the bridge, the causeway, going out to sanibel where have destruction of that, and that's something that we obviously will rebuild, but that is not something that will happen overnight. and so most of what's being done to assist is air operations, since you can't get there on the ground, i think kevin will probably have more boats head over there as well. but the important thing is we wanted to speak to the mayor this morning, and she and the staff did evacuate, and they have been operating off of more of the mainland and lee county, and many people did leave sanibel, and they did heed the call, which is good. obviously, as you know, i think

you know it is a very seasonal question, we are not quite in the high season yet, but she made the point, hey, it's florida, more people want to be here year-round here, so you do have a contingent of people that stay there over the summer, so that's going to require a lot of effort to get that back, because they took a huge, huge wallop. and it's interesting, i mean you can look at a span of 40, 50 miles, some places that got the storm surge, versus some other barrier islands, you know, much less, and that's just kind of the way some of this goes. but those were really difficult images to see, especially just given that is a place that i've been fortunate enough to go out and have some friends and a few events there in the past, and really a great part of the southwest florida community. but we're committed to restoring the infrastructure if needed. that is not going to be an overnight task. that is going to be something that is going to require a lot of love and care. and it's going to require a lot of resources. but we're going to do it because we understand how important it

is. >> are there state and federal funds available to make that happen? >> well, in terms of infrastructure, i think, i mean kevin who has talked with fema is here, we've gotten it approved for 30 days? >> 30 days. >> that's more of like the immediate -- >> that's public assistance. but this particular county is under an individual assistance disaster declaration so we will set up a disaster center and we'll have that work happening. >> that's on an individual basis. and somebody loses their house, and they may need temporary assistance, a hotel accommodation, something like that, then they're going to be able to do that, and our cfo is here, as part of the recovery centers, they will have insurance villages, and if you look at what lee county had to deal with, these are massive, massive flood events. and so most of these people who have mortgages, and they're in a

flood zone, probably had to have flood insurance. so they will have people who can help with those flood claims. you also have wind damage, the traditional home owners insurance policy. that is going to be important. in terms of the overall infrastructure, obviously we will seek federal support for that. but we're also in florida, we're well positioned financially right now, to get through this. i mean we have the largest budget surplus we've ever had. we've worked very hard of course to keep the economy open and make this a state people wanted to be in and we're seeing historic reserves even as we continue to break records with income coming in with no income tax and they revised it in august and saying florida is getting more revenue and in september we have 300 million over estimated. so we have put an emphasis on infrastructure. partly because the state is growing. we understand in a situation like this, we've had a bridge knocked out with hurricane sally, because you had a barge that was let loose and it ran

into the area. and we were able to fix that but it is not happening overnight. and to me, it is an issue, we have the resources, federal, state and local and i'm pretty confident about that, but this is an island you are not able to access by car until that is done. so what is the plan to do that? and that is something we will consult with the local leaders at the city level, and at the county level, and to try to figure out what the best way. is and to deal with these things, and stabilize and provide the help with people and you want to get back to some semblance of normalcy as quickly as possible and it will be harder in some areas than other, but i want to, you know, let's work on sanibel and let's bring it back to where it was as soon as we can. >> governor, with being wiped out, how do you determine if it is flood insurance, or what is covered here? and how will that be determined? >> that's kind of an age-old thing on these storms. you will have disputes, because

obviously, if you have both policies, and you file a flood claim, the flood is going to want you to file the wind claim. the wind is going to want you to file the flood claim. what i would say is when you have surge that is 10, 14 feet, when you have six feet of water in somebody's home, to me, that's a flood claim. and it doesn't mean that they may not have also suffered wind damage, because as we know, it was a really significant thing, but you don't -- wind alone is not going to cause the six feet of water. i mean that's a flood event. and it's not just in the barrier islands, which of course had a lot, i mean you go in some of the places in lee county, that are close to the river, and some of these inlets, you have massive, massive rising waters. and so that is just something that happens. that is what was happening to. so folks who did not do the evacuation. they were hunkering down, and their homes, i think, were totally fine, to handle even a really strong wind event, but the problem is, if the water is rising, you're in your living

room, it's a foot, two feet, three feet, they're the ones who were calling saying hey, this is a big problem. of course, it is. i think at the end of the day, in lee county, i think most of the plains will be flood plains, and i think in charlotte, the mix will be a little different, i think most of the claims will be flood claims, and i think in charlotte, the mix will be a little different and those claims are going to be appropriate but clearly if you have the water rising in your living room and you're in an area like that, that is a flood. >> sometimes we will look at what is happening with the wind and water -- what about those who are worried that the insurance companies are not going to be responsive? >> jimmy, where is jimmy at, part of the disaster recovery are the insurance villages and he has done a great job of leading, he's getting the carriers all together, he will have a footprint in all of the

affected counties, and people are going to be able to go and file claims, and there's already been things done with our insurance regulation agency, you know, to go back ten days and none of those cancellations are valid, and you can't cancel going forward for another couple of months, so there's already actions being taken. i will have jimmy come up and do that. and look at the end of the day, we've had a lot of issues with property insurance, a lot of that is because losses and a lot of things that don't focus on the core business. this is the core business of paying these claims. and we understand that time is of the essence. >> so we've had a preliminary site set up and coordinated with kevin guthrie's team in the county, but we will probably take a large spot, and initially insurance carriers will come in and have somewhere between 20 and 25 carriers, and they will probably set up in rvs and start writing checks initially, and living expense money, this will be the dollars to help people go find a place to live, sustenance dollars. and then you'll be signed up,

where adjusters will come and inspect the damage. here is the most important thing i need to you take away from this conversation, is the predator going to come up and try to sign up construction management contracts, they're going to come like a bunch of locusts and hit the neighborhoods and people are vulnerable and they will look for a solution and their solution is always going to be important, but that solution is not going to be knocking on the door. if it sounds too good to be true, it is. so please, that first phone call that you're going to make needs to be your agent, your carrier, or my office, at 1-877-my flc. >> if one of your three phone calls you make in your house to get insurance going, one of those three, there is zero chance to be taken care of. panama ty is my hometown. i lived through hurricane michael. we did 12 insurance villages there over time and we will be here bringing the carriers back and they will write checks

on-site. but when you start complicating the claim and allow predators to get involved with your claim, you will drag it out. so the best solution is between you, your carrier, and us, and the more people you bring in to it, the harder it is going to be to get a settlement that's going to be fair for everybody. and look, at the end of the day, if your carrier doesn't want to work you with, that's when you call my office and we will take them to task. >> what i've asked jimmy to do is also have people with assistance for the national flood insurance program claim, that they obviously have their homeowners policy, many people have both, but i think the issue is, is that some people live in areas where they're told you don't need flood, so they don't do it, and now they may be in a situation where that is the case, but bottom line, those who have the flood insurance, we want them to be able to field those claims. take pictures of the damage of your home and have those, so that you can present those, and so you can get paid quicker. if you took pictures of the water line, if you have four feet of water, you took pictures, bring that with you.

if you have the water that has gone down but you see where the line was, take pictures and document that, so that you can go in, present it, and it's not going to be any questions. but jimmy made a good point. you start signing up, some of these people will swoop in and want you to sign stuff and it hasn't worked out well in the past in florida. unfortunately, when you have disasters, there's some people that want to prey on people when they're in vulnerable situations. and we do not want. that the other thing i would also say, just from looking at some of the images that we've seen on tv, it is going to be a lot of automobile insurance claims potentially. i can tell you, my wife, we lost a car in irma, and thank god we had usaid, because they cut us a check very quickly. so hopefully all of the auto insurance will be able to do that. but we literally were seeing cars washed away, cars totally submerged. so we understand that people are going to need to be able to get that claim. but when we did it with irma, we got the check within like a week, they came out, they did it, they gave us a check, and

honestly, it is not like losing a car only is like the worst thing in the world, we were fine, but i mean to be able to have that, and you know what you have to do, you can buy a new car, so i appreciate what jimmy is doing, i think it is important to get the carriers in, and let people go and make these claims, and let's get these things processed as quickly as possible. thanks, everybody. appreciate it. >> governor desantis right there and other officials, closing up that press conference. he is stating what we all know, which is that it is very bad in florida. as for a victim count, there is still not one as of now. a lot of reporting out there. all talking about the potential number of victims. but so far, no hard count. good to be with you. i'm katy tur. it has been as you have seen a devastating 24 hours for the

state of florida. and officials have said to prepare for the worst. and the worst is what they got. right now, there are real fears that the death toll in hard-hit areas along the western shore could be in the hundreds, if not the thousands. just look at this damage. neighborhoods crushed. washed away by the giant storm surge. the homes left standing are only just -- look at the water line in this picture right here, it is up to this woman's shoulders. or these boats. with only 24 hours ago were still docked in the marina, in fort myers. rescue teams are looking for survivors. this is video shot by team rubicon in fort myers. hard to imagine how anyone who stayed here could have possibly survived. officials say they were overwhelmed with calls during the storm from people desperate for help. the ones who thought they could ride it out, and the ones who did not have a choice.

>> i've been paralyzed, and i had the hospital bed, and i had gromets and i tied them over it and put pill lose and plastic bags and duct taped them to the top of the side board and i put pillows between the side board and the window, because i didn't want him to get cut up to death if the window blew in and i put a life jacket on him, if the water came, he wouldn't drown, he would float. he was scared. i wasn't there to comfort him. i was hiding. >> millions without power or clean water. thousands don't have a home to go back to. the cleanup will be monumental. and governor desantis, says much like what hurricane andrew did in 1992, hurricane ian will forever change florida. back with me right now is larry welk who rode out the

storm in sarasota, i know you were regretting your decision yesterday, all is well for you, and i know sarasota didn't get the brunt of the damage, but there is still quite a lot that they had to deal with. what have you seen today? >> well, i'll tell you what, being here, we didn't think we would have this much damage, i got on my bicycle, and i drove my bicycle down to southern sarasota and they are absolutely devastated down there. i spoke with one of the police officers who was blocking traffic, trying to clean. so debris, and he said that several officers had major damage to their own homes but still out there trying to help the people of sarasota, and venice, and those communities, they are all very much connected here to where i am. now, i did regret my decision and i promise you i will never stay for another storm like this ever again here.

i am one of the lucky ones. because the building i am in, we had very minimal damage. and my in laws staying with us, they live about a half hour away, they were hunkering down with me, and my father-in-law said it is time to get to the interior, because you could see the windows breathing in and out. i've seen office buildings, home after home after home with trees down and debris, and really the widespread damage in florida is going to be felt for a very, very long time. the cleanup effort is under way right now. if there is anything in all of this, there is a sense of community, and people coming out of their homes to help other neighbors and help people around them. and something you don't see a lot these days, an entire community all getting together, and trying to help each other out. but i've seen businesses with their roofs torn off, and i've

seen just, it's incredible the amount of damage that could happen, and mother nature is sneaky, and we had all kinds of warnings, and i'm a pretty smart guy, and i still chose to stay. i won't do that again. >> i know you have seen a lot of the damage with your own eyes, i'm sure you've seen even more on television about what happened south of you, what could have happened to you, had the storm been just a little bit to the north, the cleanup, and the effort that it is going to take, what's your expectation for how florida is going to deal with this, as a florida resident? i mean it is going to be a lot of money, a lot of time, and governor desantis said it will change the state, like hurricane andrew did back in 1992. >> well, i can tell you this. and somebody who was born and raised or grew up in california, i've seen any kind of disaster you can, have and was impressed, and i was out just now, with the amount of help that is out

there. there are thousands of utility vehicles. there are cleanups happening with trees and debris going on all over right now. and i don't know if i can give you a good idea, i'll just take this camera over here, but over my shoulder here, that's a barrier island right here. so these buildings that you see right in front of us, they sit on the sarasota bay. just beyond those buildings, those barrier islands, they have had water and power cut off now for two days. and they are still having difficulty trying to get people on and off. and people want to go see how their properties did, on the barrier islands, people like siesta key, and i can tell you that they are just now getting those bridges reopened, as they assess the damage. but it was very frightening here. the wind, like i said, when you

see those windows start to breathe in and out, and you have your father-in-law saying that it is time to get to the stairwell, those are tense moments. but nothing compared to what happened just a few miles south of here, and beyond, it is going to take a long time, but florida is as prepared as they could have been to get these folks help, the help they need. >> your windows in the building you live in, are relatively new building, are rated for 150 miles per hour, and the structures, the new structures, the new construction in florida, have to meet a certain grade in order to get permitted because the state is worried about hurricanes. i just want to know, just give me a little bit more about what it was like to hear those winds, to feel those winds overnight. i know we spoke to you around 2:00 yesterday, and lots of our people watch having never experienced a hurricane before. can you describe it for us?

>> i could sit here and describe it to you, but it is the most frightening thing ever. because sitting here, days ahead, it is beautiful blue skies, and then the hurricane comes. when you get a notification from the officials that say if you call 911, nobody is going to be there to help you, that is a scary thing, and then you start seeing trees, debris, and you're looking right now at a bank i drove by earlier, and their facade was taken off the front, the trees snapped in two, in the drive threw there. and those are the scenes i see around me. and i just came down the road here, between sarasota and i-75, the main thoroughfare, and almost every fence along that road was torn down, trees into homes, and like i said, it is just one of those things, if you're in this experience, and you decided to hunker down, you

are completely at the mercy of the storm, and you are not going to get any help from anybody. it's terrifying. >> i know it is a gamble, you know, you watch the news, and you hear the meteorologists warn you to leave, you hear the mandatory warnings, and the storm passes you by and you're okay. but it only takes one time for you not to be lucky, for you to be scared and to be caught in something that you cannot handle. and those are the people who can evacuate, there are lots of folks who do not have that option. just listening to one woman whose husband was paralyzed and how scared she was and how she could not move him. thank you very much for being with us, larry. we appreciate it. glad that you're okay. >> thank you. and jacksonville, florida, was already recovering from a two foot storm surge before this afternoon's high tide. the city is forecast to see between four and six-foot storm surges and some 0 inches of rain

as we last announced tropical ian, now crawls through the center of the state. the city's 850,000 residents are bracing for what could be catastrophic flooding. joining us now from jacksonville, florida, is nbc's shaq brewster. we look at all of the damage that ian wreaked on the western side of florida and i keep talking about the storms that we've experienced here in the northeast, these tropical storms, these lower level hurricanes, that have done some damage when they hit the coast but then have gone up the coast, as a tropical storm, and just ruined entire communities because of the flooding there. what are you seeing in jacksonville? what are they expecting? and are people taking the warning seriously? >> well, in that scenario that you described, that was what local officials were fearing. they've seen this before, just five years ago, with hurricane irma when the tropical storm effects from that storm impacted the jacksonville area, and

completely flooded the downtown and led to hundreds of rescue. and now this time around, jacksonville is sending the urban search and rescue team to central florida and that gives you a sense of the impact and the lower level impact that they've had here. that is not to say that jacksonville is out of woods. you've seen. so cleanup video alongside on the screen next to me. downed trees. downed power lines. about 22,000 people in this area were without power since the start of the storm. but again, another sign that shows you the impact that they've had, is that number, as of about two hours ago, was down about 6,500. that means that crews have been able to go out and quickly pull up those power lines, and quickly restore power in those areas that lost power, because the winds haven't been as significant as was once feared. one thing we heard from the mayor earlier today when he gave an update to the reporters and to the community that while they're breathing a sigh of relief, they are not out of the woods yet, and that is because

this st. john's river, it will continue to reach high tide, we had a high tide at 12 p.m. earlier today and another high tide at midnight and that is when the most threatening effects for the jacksonville area will be seen. so they're saying they're not out of the woods, and that flooding threat for this area continues. not just through today, but really into the weekend. but big picture here, they're breathing a sigh of relief, they're saying they're not getting the impacts they feared and that they saw before, but there's still a lot more time to go before they feel confident they've gone through this. >> flash flooding can be a real problem. and what we saw a moment ago to the left of you were images from overnight of a tower of signage at a shopping center coming down from all of the rain there in jacksonville. thank you very much. still ahead, transportation secretary pete buttigieg is showing us what the federal government is preparing to do to help the state of florida. and what one hurricane chaser who flew into the eye of

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♪ ♪ the complement and thankful for the response and told me how much he appreciated it and told me he is happy with what is going on and this is not about disagreements politically, this is about saving people's lives and businesses and that's what this is about, and i've talked to him four or five times already, and it's not a matter of my disagreements on him on other items. >> that was president biden telling a reporter his political relationship with ron desantis is not relevant during a natural disaster, when the federal government needs to work closely with state and local governments. officials have a big job to do, beyond the damage to individual homes, there is extensive damage to the state's infrastructure. look at this. the islands of sanibel and cap

teva are completely cut off from mainland, florida. after the storm washed away not just one but three parts of the causeway. joining me now is secretary of transportation pete buttigieg. mr. secretary, thank you very much for joining us. it is a big job to do. how do you begin? >> the focus now is on getting emergency supplies to get to where they need to go, and keeping the transportation system as functional as possible. we'll be there to help with rebuilding. we already have authorities available through things like emergency relief funds through our federal highway administration. but right now, the focus is more

on the infrastructure, and every accident in the department of transportation is coordinating to get information through our transportation center, and part of that broader federal effort that the president described, especially now that ian has moved through and that major disaster declaration has been declared, that creates a lot of the tools that will be needed in the recovery. and a lot of folks are remaining in the path of the storm where we're trying to help prepare them and be ready to help out. >> you have a very slow connection, so while you're not speaking slowly, mr. secretary, your connection is making it sound like you're speaking quite slowly, so thank you you for

dealing with that with us, and everyone out there. when you look at the, just focusing on the islands like a isanibel, like sanibel, they're completely cut off from the main road, which means they can't get the power crews through the main roads to get over to the island to start restoring power there. how do you do that? how do you get the crews over? do you start carting them over by boat? is that the solution? >> that will be up to the local emergency response teams. there is a situation now, where you have a lot of people who are isolated. the causeway bridges are obvious not usable right now. and we're still standing by for some damage assessments in areas that folks haven't been able to

get to yet. so right now, the most important thing is to not try to go out if you don't know if there is a safe route to get to where you need to be. while meanwhile, authorities will use whatever means of transportation are available to them to get supplies and personnel where they need to be. and of course, we will continue to be ready to help in any way we can. >> what about the airports? when should we see those reopening? >> right now, the airports that are most impacted are closed and probably will remain so for some time, and the faa is looking at areas that will give priority to emergency response in the area. and noticeably, there are restrictions on nonemergency drone operations and it has become more of an issue with emergencies in recent years.

sometimes people want to fly recreational commercial drones to get imagery of what is happening and we're asking everybody not to do that until you hear it is clear, because we need to reserve that air space for low flying aircraft and drens being used by emergency response -- drones being used by emergency response personnel. and they are looking at getting the airports up and running as safely as they can possibly can. and they have mobile resources to substitute for towers that the faa has, and they're looking at damage assessments, for other pieces of critical instruments like the landing system and lems and components that are around these runways and they are still working to get information about the extent of the damage right now. >> secretary, pete buttigieg, thanks for joining us. and coming up alejandro

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now i'm back where i belong. ask your doctor if latuda is right for you. pay as little as zero dollars for your first prescription. i've been flying in hurricanes for the past six years and that was the last flight i've been on so far. we were coming through the western side of the eyewall of hurricane ian, it was intensifying up to the peak category four strength and we were bounced around. >> that was nick underwood, a hurricane hunter and he and his crew flew the plane straight into the storm and recorded on video, rat ling the plane and everything on board, as they tried to measure the size and the strength of the hurricane. for more on how this storm became such a monster, the likes of which even the hurricane hunters have never seen, acting

deputy director of national hurricane center, michael brennan. michael, thank you very much for being with us. this storm, it wasn't a category five, at least it hasn't been categorized as that now but it seems like it was behaving in an equally destructive way. >> sure, yes, a strong category four, category five hurricane, there is hardly any difference there. our ability to tell how strong the storm is only good 10% anyway, so we'll certainly go back and look at it again after the fact, when we get all of the data there, but you know, high end category four hurricane in the southwest florida area will cause catastrophic damage and that's unfortunately what we saw yesterday. >> what enabled it to get so big and powerful? >> well, you know, it moved over the warmest water in the atlantic basin there in the northwestern caribbean and the southeast gulf of mexico, some of the warmest water anywhere in the whole atlantic, and it found those ripe conditions, ripe upper level winds, the right amount of moisture in the atmosphere and warm ocean water

allowed it to explosively intensify. >> these storms have been intensifying, they have been for the past ten years, climate change is something that we talk about a lot, what do you do if you're living on the west coast of florida or anywhere in the eye of these storms, all of florida, the gulf of mexico, what do you do to prepare yourself for this inevitability? >> you have to know your risk. that's the first thing. and then you can mitigate against it by either perhaps elevating your home or making sure you have insurance that covers your risk. so you know, we know that with sea level rising, more areas will be exposed to storm surge in the coming years and that risk is going to continue to grow, especially low-lying places like southwest florida that are vulnerable to the storm surge to begin with. >> what about the risks right now, to the eastern part of the united states, the carolinas? >> yes, right now, the worst conditions are actually east central and northeastern florida. you can see the center of ian is east of cape carnival with

strong winds. winds hurricane force from the next few hours from daytona beach to brevard county and cape carnival. heavy strong winds. heavy flooding rain and storm surge affecting areas from daytona beach up north to jacksonville. so that's what's going on now and that's the danger zone for the next few hours. as we move ahead in time, we will see ian's track move northward and then back to the north/northwest, toward the coast of south carolina, we are expecting it to cross the coast as a hurricane tomorrow, and we have a hurricane warning in effect for south carolina for the wind damage potential, we have storm surge warnings in effect, and we could see inundation of five to seven feet above ground level, and charleston and savannah, and myrtle beach and they have a significant risk of heavy rain inland, across much of south carolina, up into the mid atlantic states, and through friday and saturday. >> what is the message here, to this country, about climate change? >> well, you know, what we know for hurricanes is that sea level rise puts more areas at risk for storm surge. and it raises the base level of

the water already, and can allow a storm surge to be higher and push farther inland. the other thing we know is that warmer air holds more moisture. and we do see heavy rainfall rates, higher rainfall totals, not just in hurricanes but in other heavy precipitation events and it raises the problem with the water hazards and that's what kills most people in hurricanes is storm surge and rainfall flooding. >> thank you very much for joining us. we appreciate it. joining me now is the manager of collier county florida, which includes naples, amy patterson. thank you very much. we had ali velshi, our reporter in naples, all day yesterday, and what he saw was horrendous, the storm surge, getting up to eight feet, when we had him op, during the 2:00 p.m. hour, cars floating and banging into each other, and entire levels of first floors of buildings complete lir inundated. what is it like there today now that the water has receded? >> thanks for having me. yes, the water has receded out of a lot of the areas, leaving

behind a fair amount of damage. a lot of damage. we do have the cars that have been stranded. cars that have been pushed into places where they didn't belong. same thing with boats and large amounts of debris. all up and down the coastline. >> anyone stranded? >> we were receiving reports yesterday of folks that were stuck in their vehicles, as water was rising. but our first responders were able to triage those, and be able to help get those folks to safety. >> do you have any reports of fatalities? >> we have had some reports of some deaths, but we don't have a confirmed number, nor a confirmed cause of death at this time. it does appear that numbers that we're hearing are lower than some of our neighbors to the north, but we're waiting on additional information. >> what do you need right now? >> we need some time to get out, and look at the damage, to be able to assess things, particularly those that pertain

to how safety, the structural integrity of the buildings, just asking folks here to be patient and to stay put, it's really interesting to go out and look at things, but it does cause problems for our first responders as well as our damage assessment teams. we need folks to sit tight. and also, you know, make sure that they're staying hydrating, that they're staying safe, that they're staying out of any standing water, and that they're listening to percentaging from -- messaging from their local governments. >> do you have power? do you have clean water? >> yes, we do have power throughout the county. and then not power throughout the county. so we know that our partners, our electrical partners are working on that, as we speak. and as far as our utilities, we are in good shape, managing both our water and our waste water. we do have a couple of precautionary boil water notices just as a safety factor and we are working with our municipalities to ensure that

their water systems are up and running as well. >> it sounds like your infrastructure held up relatively well, despite all of the flooding. >> i think so, yes. based on the power of mother nature, we are incredibly lucky. but it is amazing to see what the force of water can do. >> yes, we saw it yesterday with ali, and it was just shocking to see, so it's good to hear that you think you guys are going to be okay at least compared to your neighbors certainly. thank you very much, amy patterson, collier county manager, we appreciate your time. coming up next, an emergency services official in a city that has seen significant damage. is? (cecily) yup, with this amazing new camera. smile! (adam) and you got it on verizon? (cecily) even better. i got verizon's new plan. includes apple one. that's apple music, apple tv+, apple arcade, icloud+. (adam) i hear the acting's pretty good on that one. (cecily) so is the deal i got from verizon.

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of sarasota, longboat key, on the island, and the incorporated county, up until about mid county, it is spared. unfortunately, our little town of inglewood which shares with charlotte county, we haven't seen the charlotte county yet but i imagine the storm surge was catastrophic, north port, that is our community along i-75, a lot of damage to public buildings, you know, school buildings, a lot of flooding, so what we're doing, we kept our evacuation centers, for the public open, and we're allowing anybody there, with destroyed homes, to come in, there and a lot of destroyed mobile homes. communication is out. power is out. phones are out. so we've actually just brought in an amateur radio community, our sarasota county amateur radio emergency services, and they're set up out here, on the eoc, with a tent up, i have an

amateur person at the eoc of northport and we're communicating, we're in the process of getting high water vehicles, resources down there, and then the other thing we're doing is kind of tearing down our shelters, evacuation centers and anything that is not in the north, we are starting to close those and we are working on a plan to move people that skill tant go home to a red cross shelt hear we're establishing in several of those throughout the county. >> we haven't gotten a confirmed victim count yet, the president said it is likely it will be significant, and have you had any confirmed fatalities? >> no, none that i'm aware of, i am aware that there are several hundred, i guess, sort of state in lee, and that area, and this is very unfortunate, and we want

to get our area, you know, picked up, cleaned up, get all of our citizens, our residents home safely, and then we told the director of emergency management, kevin guthrie, when we're done with that, we are ready to join this new fight and support our partners to the south. now, we have been bringing in search and rescue teams, our sarasota county sheriff's office jail, has agreed to take 28 inmates from the charlotte county jail, they need to evacuate that facility, apparently, and spread those out. and we're taking 28. we're also trying to establish a field hospital outside, because we lost an e.r., and a hospital in the south county, and charlotte county lost one as well. so those are the types of things that happen here, where the federal and state government assets really support us. there have been search and rescue teams that are here, and the disaster, medical assistance teams will be here as well. so you know, this is day one.

we're not seeing a lot of damage, north of where we are, but in the south part of the county, and into the charlotte county and lee county, devastated. >> the hospital system, i'm reading about the florida hospital system, and the concerns that the hospitals themselves are not adequately equipped to handle this sort of flooding, this sort of storm surge, is that something that needs to be reconsidered going forward? >> well, i think it's a matter of planning, and design, and understanding the geography, and as we build new hospitals, and new critical facilities, they don't need to be built that close to the water, and not close to the rivers on the bay, but unfortunately we have a lot of older hospitals because that's where they were built, and they're functional, they are workable, but when you have an event like this, for lessons learned, if you rebuild a hospital, build it further inland, and make sure you know

the flood zone, and the evacuation level for storm surge. again, we have older buildings. >> it might be a consideration for building homes as well. >> exactly. >> ed mccrane, thank you very much for joining us. glad that you guys made it out as well as you did. we appreciate your time, sir. and that is going to do it for me today. at this 2:00 p.m. hour. hallie jackson picks up our coverage next. hallie jackson picks up our coverage next. like #4 supreme meats. smoky capicola, genoa salami and pepperoni! it's the dream team of meats. i've still got my uniform. it's subway's biggest refresh yet.

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