♪♪ hey, everybody. good morning. i'm yasmin vossoughian here at msnbc headquarters in new york city. right now ian, it's got new steam and a new target it's bearing down on. the deadly storm has reintensified. you're looking at live pictures off the coast of south carolina where ian is forecast to make its second u.s. landfall early this afternoon.

hurricane-force winds already recorded offshore from charleston. the national weather center warns storm surge is expected there. people are warned to take this storm seriously especially after what was seen and happened from ian in florida. more striking images are emerging as well. capturing the level of devastation especially where the storm came on shore in southwest florida. you're looking at have i had from sanibel island showing the community torn apart, completely severed from the mainland. people stranded without water and power. cleanup efforts have begun in some areas, including fort myers beach. residents still reeling from all of this destruction. >> i mean, there's just stuff going everywhere. i've lived here my whole life, it's unreal. >> we thought possibly we were one of the lucky ones.

unfortunately -- >> it's really too sad for me to talk about. thank you, guys. >> some areas, high floodwaters are still a major concern, not yesterday receded. governor ron desantis commending the first responders up and down his state. >> you had people immediately descend onto the scene, particularly in southwest florida. there's life rescue, making sure people are okay, following up on any type of calls and there's been really a huge effort. >> the president is going to talk about the response to this storm. we'll bring you that live as soon as it begins. we have bill karins, sam brock who is in fort myers and we have kathy park in charleston, south carolina, directly in ian's

path, around where ian is going to make landfall once again. kathy, as we're seeing the weather picking up there, what are you seeing as we await, once again, ian to make landfall there? >> reporter: hey, there, yasmin, we've been out here all morning long and this is probably the worst we've seen it so far. we're just getting dumped with a lot of rain right now. there's a storm drain and you can see all of that water being funneled down that drain right now. but in addition to all this rain, we are getting slammed with these intense wind gusts and as you mention, we are just moments away from landfall and it looks like -- we looked at the radar, the eye of the storm is actually headed a little north but we're still feeling the outer bands of this massive system. we are right in front of the ashley river right now. there's a lot of sea grass. you can see it shaking around behind me. these boats are tethered. folks in this area know the

drill. but you can see it wobbling around. you do have some cars out here which kind of worries me. conditions are pretty bad. things are only about to get worse. the governor of south carolina has declared a state of emergency, but stopped short of issuing mandatory evacuations. this is what i'm talking about. things are not good. so if you don't have to be out right now, probably a good idea to kind of hunker down and have an emergency plan in place in case the water gets too high. something worth noting, yasmin, if it does make landfall in the charleston area, this will be the first time since 2016, folks here, this is a low country for a reason, they're used to flooding on a good day, especially with high tide. that's the thing. high tide is just around the corner. so when you factor that in along with this deluge here, we could see up to 12 inches of rain

locally. you add in storm surge up to 7 feet, we could be looking at widespread flooding in this area, not to mention power outages. we've been monitoring that all morning long. the number continues to tick up. it's the wind gusts that is knocking down tree limbs. you got debris all around me here, but this is just kind of a taste of what's to come. we're in the thick of it right now, yasmin. >> if you would, continue to keep yourself and your crew safe amidst all of this as the storm continues to worsen over the next couple of hours. thank you for your reporting on this, kathy. i want to go over to bill. bill, we're looking at the outer bands on the map behind you as to what kathy is really feeling now as the winds are beginning to pick up. you had some good news -- and i'm putting that lightly, right, about this and how it's going to hit and when exactly it's going to hit. talk us through that. >> kathy is located right here, this is charleston. on the radar that indicates

where we have thunderstorms or heavy rain. you saw exactly what it looks to be in a bright red band on a radar. that's the worst rain, heavy, anywhere. we couldn't have shown you a live shot with heavier rain. i've been in charleston in the summertime in a thunderstorm and there's flooding and water everywhere just with that. i can only imagine, they're under a flash flood warning. it goes up until the noon hour. they'll extend that right through the afternoon. where is this thing going? you can see where the center is, actually, still far off the coast. it's off the coast by 60 miles or so. it's going to take awhile. if we take that north and northeast, we're going to the landfall somewhere around georgetown and it looks to be likely during the afternoon. high tide is in 40 minutes from right now in charleston. we don't want the surge coming in when we have high tide. the high tide is just about now in myrtle beach, by the way, also. i want the high tide right now because then in about four, five hours when we get that landfall,

we'll be heading towards low tide which is right around 5:00, 6:00 this afternoon. that will take off about 1 or 2 feet from the surge. that's a big difference between water going over the dunes, staying behind the dunes. it will prevent some of that damage. that's good. now as far as what we're going to do, the hurricane center brought us a new update, still a category one, we're starting to move this thing, though, 14 miles per hour. we won't have any more time to strengthen. it will probably maintain its intensity. it's raining all the way up to richmond and norfolk. after we get done with the landfall this afternoon, then we shift to it's a big rain story and where are we going to get the flooding as we go through tonight and tomorrow. there's the landfall position right near about georgetown. that puts you in charleston heading down to savannah. you're on the backside. your winds will be blowing out. you won't get that storm surge.

but the myrtle beach area to georgetown, that's the area if we get the surge, that's where we're most concerned with. and, of course, if you've been to this area of south carolina, so many beautiful big, huge trees. we could see wind gusts 70 to almost 96 miles per hour when this makes landfall. that will be enough to knock down trees and the soil because all the heavy rain isn't holding those tree roots as solidly as they do. the wind will easily topple over some of the trees. we could still expect a lot of power outages. here's the graphic about the storm surge. there's the myrtle beach high tide, 11:18. high tide at 11:41. by the time we get through this evening, it's already inland. this is not hitting at worst-case scenario high tide, but we're still keeping an eye on it. it rightfully scares everyone. >> we're looking at 3:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., eastern standard time landfall around georgetown, right, obviously the storm surge not expected to be what it was

in florida. we were looking at a cat four, teetering on a cat five. now it's a cat one. if you look at the catastrophe that we're seeing now, the aftermath in florida, what expectations do you have now with this storm making landfall in georgetown north to myrtle beach with the storm surge of what we're going to see there? >> i think it will be something similar to 2017 when hurricane matthew came through this area. we saw damage to myrtle beach pier a portion of it got destroyed. we didn't see the water going over the dunes and into houses with wave action and stuff like that. we will see some damage on the immediate coastal areas right to the right of where this makes landfall. 4 to 7 feet was worst-case scenario. if we make this come inland in the middle of the tide cycles, we'll lower that by 1 to 2 feet. if we get a surge by 2 to 4 feet, most of the dunes will protect the roads and structures behind them. that's what will play out in the next couple of hours.

>> we'll check back in with you, bill, in 30 minutes or so. thank you for that. i know you got a lot to do. sam brock, let's talk about what you're seeing down in florida. it's being called catastrophic. the images are startling, really, imagining what these folks have really lost there, right, and we're also learning about 200 or so rescues have been made in the aftermath of this storm. talk us through what you're seeing and hearing on the ground. >> reporter: devastation doesn't even do it justice. there's not really a word in the english dictionary or language to describe what you're actually seeing on the ground. a second ago, we had that report from kathy in south carolina where you see these huge boats over here shoulder. what you're looking at right now, that's fort myers beach. one man described it as a mom -- bomb being detonated.

that's what sitting in the streets right now. of all the areas that have been devastated, this is the epicenter and this led to all sorts of situations. you mention the rescues, a couple hundred here, that's out of 700 total. close to a third of all the rescues so far have been where i am. the other issue we're really tracking closely right now, yasmin, the hospitals. governor desantis earlier today did acknowledge that there are six hospitals in southwest hospital that are evacuating. you're talking about hundreds of people that have no access right now to clean drinking water. so they got to be moved. i spoke with the city manager in naples yesterday, he told me that that city is accepting 400 patients. we're going to be seeing these transfers going on throughout the course of the day. we're looking to speak with someone from broward county. they're accepting 20-plus nicu babies from lee county. they're being moved from lee county to broward county. what those parents must be feeling right now. but the reality is, you need

water to function. and the governor also said today in lee county there's no water availability anywhere. so you have three quarters of the population with no power. now no clean water. these are just kind of a little bit of pieces and snapshots into what the situation is like on the ground, yasmin, right now. >> just devastating. not only the fragility of the babies, the emotional fragility of the parents as well, and who knows what they have suffered with the loss of their homes and having to deal with these babies in the nicu having to be transferred. thank you. let's go to mount pleasant, south carolina. joining us mayor will haynie. just about 7 miles outside of charleston, by the way. mayor, thanks for joining us. i know you and your folks there -- >> thanks for having me. >> you're buckling down ahead of this hurricane making landfall once again. our thoughts and prayers with you ahead of what's to come. it looks like this thing is going to be making landfall a

little bit further north from where you are, right, in georgetown. you're going to be feeling the backside of this thing. how prepared are you? >> we have been in preparation mode since the beginning of the week and since yesterday we've been at our highest preparation and response level. so we have been through these drills before and we are as prepared as we can be and our response will be as good as it can be. if i just may say briefly, in my lifetime, a new decades ago, hurricane hugo came through here and those pictures from florida are just devastating, our hearts go out to them and i know i speak for all of mount pleasant that we hope to get through this very well where we are. we've been spared a category four or five. but we hope to be offering assistance because we have been on the receiving end of that before. >> you're not getting category four or five. thankfully you're still getting the outer bands of the cat one even at this point. what are you feeling right about now, mayor, as you're looking

out your window? >> our rains are increasing, our winds are increasing. we're expecting it to stay like this and peak about 4:00 this afternoon. to put it in perspective, even though it is just a category one and it won't be as catastrophic as a higher grade hurricane, if one person loses their life, if one person does not take it seriously, that is a catastrophe in itself. so we ask everyone to stay home if at all possible, take all precautions and remember all of the warnings, flood warning, wind warning, hurricane warning, they are all still in effect. >> mount pleasant not far from charleston but much more of a suburban area than charleston with its more urban area. how have you asked folks to prepare? what are they doing, the people that live in mount pleasant? >> we ask people that know they live in a flood-prone area or if their individual property is flood prone it would be wise to get away from there and go to a

neighbor's house or go somewhere that you know is safe. please watch falling limbs and downed power lines are going to be a huge issue, a potential threat. we've already got two down on two major roads in the last hour. those situations are being addressed. there were no injuries. but this is a thing that can happen here or there. when a tree limb falls and take power line with it, falls on a major roadway or something like that. our largest hospital did lose power during the night, but during preparation, their generator kicked right in. they never missed a beat. they're going to stay on generator during the day to avoid any further interruption. that shows the value of proper preparation for a storm event like this. >> we hope you and your family along with the citizens in your area continue to stay safe. keep in touch with us as this thing progresses towards your area. thank you, mayor. appreciate it. we're expecting the president to speak about the

federal response to hurricane ian. we're going to have the latest on plans for assistance and i'm going to talk to russel honore' who coordinated the katrina response about what is needed on the ground. but first, cut off. what we are learning about the scale of the destruction on sanibel island where the only bridge to mainland florida has been completely destroyed. >> you know as we are speaking right now, there are people that want us and need us and we can't get to them. osters keep your laundry smelling fresh waaaay longer than detergent alone. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks, make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. we lost about everything trying to pay for prescriptions. we spent our whole pension but couldn't keep up. so my husband just stopped

taking his medicine. and then he had a stroke. i can't get back what i lost, but thanks to aarp, a new law will protect seniors with a cap on their prescription costs. that could have changed everything for us. i'm just grateful that no one will have to face the terrible choices that we did striving to reach the ultimate goal of zero poverty takes more than everyone's hopes and dreams. at citi, it takes a financial commitment to companies who empower people to lift themselves up. it takes funding and building on our know-how to help communities grow. that's how citi is helping create a better future by committing one trillion dollars in sustainable finance by 2030.

because it takes everything to reach zero poverty. ♪ ♪ new astepro allergy. now available without becaus a prescription.thing to reach zero poverty. astepro is the first and only 24-hour steroid free spray. while other allergy sprays take hours astepro starts working in 30 minutes. so you can... astepro and go. ♪♪ subway's drafting 12 new subs for the all-new subway series menu the new monster has juicy steak and crispy bacon. but what about the new boss? it looks so good it makes me hangry! settle down there, big guy the new subway series. what's your pick?

island. the main causeway is now in pieces. morgan chesky is joining me now. you can't help but use the word devastation enough here. some of the images completely devastating. what more do we know about the situation on the island? >> reporter: it is a situation that is growing more desire as every hour goes by. this causeway that connects sanibel island with mainland florida is split in multiple spots by hurricane ian. we had a chance to fly over it yesterday and i have to tell you, the people on that island witnessed some of the worst of what this hurricane left behind. >> this morning, the devastation in florida becoming clear.

whole towns leveled. near the named fort myers beach, the damage is historic. >> you ain't going to be able to get in that house safely. >> reporter: we met a volunteer out checking on neighbors hoping to help those who lost everything. >> we were irma ready. >> reporter: but not ian? >> no, absolutely not. >> reporter: communities on the gulf coast left cut off. sanibel island now the scene of complete devastation. >> it got hit with really biblical storm surge and it washed away roads and structures. >> reporter: the island taking the brunt of ian's impact as the storm made landfall. video shows the storm surge drowning the area, the wall of water rising an estimated 8 to 15 feet. >> i mean, there's just stuff going everywhere. i've never seen damage like this. i've lived here my whole life. it's unreal. >> reporter: boats tossed like

toys. the lone bridge cracked and crumbles. some sections are totally under water. >> we had 200 households that didn't evacuate on the island that we know of. >> reporter: anyone still trapped on the island now waiting for rescue by boat or air. we joined the lee county sheriff as he surveyed some of the hardest-hit areas to see the full scope of ian's power. >> when you look down and know as we are speaking right now, there are people that want us and need us and you can't get to them. >> reporter: people like jack and betty. an elderly couple who hasn't been heard from since the storm hit their condo. >> the worst part is the wait and the unknown and not knowing if they're okay. >> reporter: their son scott says his parents were unable to evacuate in time and forced to hunker down on their ground floor. but rescuers are stepping up.

the coast guard racing to chose stranded in sanibel island and across the region, communities coming together to help out those in need. >> reporter: so many people stepping up to help the folks here in florida out, but the situation on sanibel island remains really unknown, yasmin. that bridge that's collapsed, when asked about how long it would take to get a full replacement in there, the governor said it could take years. in the meantime, they're trying to establish a ferry service so the folks who do live there can have some sort of regular way to get back and forth from mainland florida. no matter how you look at this, it's not only a precarious situation, but a heartbreaking one as well. >> absolutely. all of that and then some. morgan chesky for us. thank you. i want to bring in lieutenant general russel honore' who served as commander of joint task force katrina. thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate it. let's start there where morgan

left off. the absolute devastation of sanibel island. the only thing that we could really compare that situation to is some of the destruction that we saw back in the keys a few years ago after a hurricane hit there. also to a certain extent, cutting off some of the access to the keys. all that being said, as you're taking a look at the devastation there, the difficulties that lie ahead, especially in getting folks back and forth, getting resources to them, what are your biggest concerns? >> well, to be able to complete the deployment of all of the search-and-rescue teams and to get the national guard in there with the search-and-rescue teams because 700 we were able to rescue yesterday were the ones that were easy to find, yasmin. that work is going to get harder. as we found out in katrina, we found a lot of elderly, disabled, and emotionally poor

people alone at home. most of them elderly. and we thought we were doing pretty good the first week until we made the secondary search and went in those homes. and every building that flooded will have to be entered unless there's a way to figure out that there's no one in there before the hurricane. florida does have a very advanced system where people who are sheltering at home can say they're sheltering at home so they know who is supposed to be at home. but with the poor communications now where you need it the most, i'm not sure the effectiveness of that program. so the first responders got a big job because in katrina, we were dealing with 250,000 homes. here we may be talking close to, what, a million homes. and i haven't heard an estimate yet. but it could that many that get wet from the surge water as well as the flooding through central florida all the way up to

jacksonville. >> considering the lack of access that we now have to an area like sanibel island, you don't have rescue efforts -- rescue trucks driving onto sanibel island at this point trying to find folks in their homes. how long do you think this could actually take? i think of the couple that morgan just mentioned that has not been heard from since the hurricane struck and wonder how many more people are like that out there? >> it's time intensive. i know we have 5,000 guard and maybe some more on the way with high clearance vehicles to get access. but just to do a comparative number in a small environment like katrina in new orleans, we brought in two division headquarters, 82nd airborne with two brigades to augment the

search and rescue and the civil support search-and-rescue team fema brought in. you need thousands of people to do that level of a search. they'll have that capacity in the coming days, but it's going to take a couple days to get them there because the entire infrastructure for ground logistics have been disrupted as the storm cut florida on an angle, in half. they'll be there in a couple of days. but right now they're focusing on the ones they can get to. but they'll need more people on the ground to do the primary and the secondary search, yasmin. >> why it's so important for us to talk about the coordination between the federal and local response. i'm going to be speaking to two former fema officials. we certainly appreciate it, sir, thank you. >> look forward to coming back and talking about recovery. we're going to get an update

on the latest on ian's path and the damage it could do to the carolinas and georgia. plus, we're keeping an eye on the white house where president biden is expected to speak soon about the federal response to the storm. as i mentioned, i'm talking next to two former top fema officials about what comes next. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

kevin: i've fought wildfires for twenty years. here's the reality we face every day. ♪ ♪ this is a crisis. we need more firefighters, more equipment, better forest management to prevent wildfires and reduce toxic smoke. and we need to reduce the tailpipe emissions that are driving changes to our climate. that's why cal fire firefighters, the american lung association, and the california democratic party support prop 30. prevent fires. cut emissions. and cleaner air. yes on 30. this thing, it's making me get an ice bath again. what do you mean? these straps are mind-blowing! they collect hundreds of data points like hrv and rem sleep, so you know all you need for recovery. and you are? i'm an investor...in invesco qqq,

a fund that gives me access to... nasdaq 100 innovations like... wearable training optimization tech. uh, how long are you... i'm done. i'm okay. welcome back, everybody. any minute now the president is expected to talk about the federal response to hurricane

ian. we're going to bring you those remarks as soon as they begin. the president saying yesterday ian could end up being the deadliest storm in florida state history. it's responsible for at least a dozen deaths so far. i want to bring in our white house correspondent mike memoli who is following this for us. what are we expecting to hear from the president this hour? >> white house officials have been stressing just how engaged the president is in monitoring the path of hurricane ian and the toll it's taken on florida and what's still to come. in the remarks that we're going to hear from the president shortly, he'll talk about those two different tracks now. one is response to what has happened in florida and we just learned in the past hour president biden spoke again this morning with governor ron desantis as well as his fema administrator who is now on the ground in florida as well to get the latest in terms of what they're seeing and the devastation of ian as it has passed now back into the atlantic. now the white house dealing with preparations as ian is bearing

down and prepared to make landfall in south carolina and also move up the coast. now this is going to be a much broader path of heavy rains, winds, that they're going to be dealing with. and so the president is going to be giving an up to the minute assessment of where we stand in terms of that response. it's also worth noting we've tended to hear the president talk during his remarks on natural disasters about the role of climate change and i'll be curious to see if he discusses that now. >> mike memoli for us. thank you, thank you for monitoring the president as we await him to give the live remarks. i want to bring in craig fugate and john copenhaver. welcome to you both, gentlemen. thanks. craig, let me start with you on this one. as we're looking about the coordination between both federal and local response there, especially when you have a situation like sanibel island completely cut off from the mainland, making it a lot more complicated, what are your

concerns there? how difficult is it to coordinate both the federal and local response? we're in this rescue effort area. >> the focus is, again, they've got national guard, coast guard, fish and wildlife, they're going out by boats, helicopters and as you heard earlier, they're going to do a house-by-house search. this is going to take place over the next couple of days. the next thing that's going to start thinking about is where people are going to stay. temporary housing is going to become the next big issue. the next question is going to be, where are people going to be staying given this level of devastation and how many homes have been destroyed. >> what about rebuilding and assistance here? i want to play for you quickly if i can, craig, deanne criswell has been in contact with the president, talking about assistance when it comes to

recovery. let's hear her. >> right now there are 13 counties that have been designated for individual assistance but we will add more. as we continue to do assessments and it hasn't been safe to go into the neighborhoods, we will continue to add more counties so individual can apply for assistance through fema. >> jose diaz-balart has been on the ground speaking to folks afraid of being overlooked when it comes to assistance, rebuilding and recovery. what do people need to know with this process? >> the first thing is, if they're in the areas of impact, again, what they're talking about is adding some of the hours outside of the impact area, saint augustine, those will get added. if you didn't have insurance and you need help -- again, i think people are going to need either short-term or long-term housing assistance which fema can start providing. it's the process of once we're going rescue is the same time

people can -- long-term rebuilding, this will be far greater than fema. this is going to require the federal family. there's a lot of things that fema won't be able to address that hud and others -- we know we're going to have huge issues with affordable housing after this. fema pays for damages. but for a lot of stuff that's going to have to be upgraded and rebuilt, it goes beyond that. this is going to go back to congress looking at the help that florida is going to need, specifically this kind of damage. everything from federal highway to hud to epa, the acronym of federal agencies becomes huge. this is a challenge to coordinate all of these federal agencies so that the federal government speaking one voice and identifying how they're going to help this community rebuild long term. >> certainly long term, especially when we're hearing that the rebuilding process could take years.

craig fugate, i know you've got to go. we appreciate you. thank you. john, let's talk through some of those difficulties and challenges that craig just laid out here, especially when it comes to assistance with rebuilding certain communities not wanting to get overlooked here. how do you avoid some of the pitfalls that we have seen in the past? >> hopefully we've learned a lot from what we've done in the past. i think that the lessons learned, the things that we did perhaps less than -- less than well are things that we've noted. particularly fema. i think that it's going to require a team effort and it's going to require close communications and coordination in the team. you're going to have to rebuild power grids, you're going to have to rebuild water and sewage systems, roadways. some communities have been completely devastated all the way down to the infrastructure and the infrastructure literally is going to have to be rebuilt.

i hope it will be rebuilt more strongly. i hope it will be stronger than when it was hit. but it's going to be a massive rebuilding effort. it's going to take time and it's going to take patience. and i think that after you've been hit, one of the things that is in short supply is patience. but people are just going to have to be patient. >> well, certainly a very emotional time for folks and we can understand why their patience is waning because it's a difficult thing to get through. as you take a look at the destruction there, the catastrophe that was left behind from ian, have you ever seen anything like this? >> not on this scale. during my tenure we had hurricanes, we had floods. after hurricane floyd in 1992, there was massive flooding in east and north carolina, but the

damage that the moving water has done, both storm surge and flooding from rain, that combination is not something that i've ever seen before. this was a massive hurricane and it hit with everything that it had. it hit with wind, it hit with seawater, and it also hit with rain water. and the combination of those things just has done damage, the likes of which i've typically only seen in tornado-impacted areas with homes completely destroyed, covered by floodwater, just unbelievable damage. >> former fema southeast regional director, john copenhaver, we appreciate you, john, thank you. right now as we're looking ahead as to what is to come, the immediate danger from ian has shift today the carolina coast area. the cat one storm is bearing down on the charleston area, or a little bit north, really. forecast to make its second u.s.

landfall later on this afternoon. back with me now is bill karins with an update on the path. for folks who are just going us, bill, as we're looking at this thing bearing down, talk about some of your biggest concerns. it's reduced to a cat one, but still bringing a lot of water, a lot of rain. >> life-threatening conditions. now probably through -- after midnight or so. but not catastrophic and life-threatening. you still have issues, you have things that can kill you, but it's not the catastrophe afterwards like we're dealing with in southwest florida. here's the latest with the storm. it's going to be making landfall roughly about three hours from now. we're at high tide now. we're hoping that the water levels won't get much higher. the winds are picking up. we have about 44,000 people without power in south carolina. that number is going to quickly start to grow as the winds kick up. just had a gust of 53 in

charleston. myrtle beach, 46. they can deal with winds like this and the infrastructure and the power grid. once we get up there above 60 to 70 to 80, that's when we'll see the power numbers begin to jump. as far as rain goes, this threat will go through the night tonight into tomorrow. this area, this magenta color, it's a moderate risk of flash flooding. that means that we expect flash flooding in these areas. so it's going to be one of those turn around don't drown scenarios. it's how a lot of people lose their lives in the storms is from the flash flooding, when roads rush out or sinkholes and people drive into them. that will be one of the concerns. and the rain thing is going huge. when you get into the mountains of virginia. we don't like heavy rains in the mountains. it will rise quickly. the heaviest rain will be during the daylight hours, the evening

ride home will be slow and difficult in those areas as the heavy rain continues to move through. here's the timing on everything. let's pause this at 8:00 p.m. tonight. there's no rain whatsoever in the coastal plain. after that, it clears out quickly. from charlotte to raleigh, approaching d.c. during the rush hour, that's when the heavy rain. from 8:00 p.m. onwards, it moves north wards. heavy rain from the storm is over areas like all of new jersey, new york city and long island. the storm splits in two pieces with the heavy rain chunk heading east. it's going to leave us with an ugly sunday but the flood threat will diminish. that's the timing of when i expect the worst of it. the life-threatening stuff now is if people -- they shouldn't be outside anymore because tree branches, every storm it seems like we hear a story of a tree fell on a car and took someone's

life. >> still got high winds. >> and we'll wait and see what happens with the storm surge when the storm makes landfall. it's good that we're at high tide now because then, you know, three hours from now, we're getting close to low tide. >> on behalf of everybody, i know you've been pulling all-nighters over the last couple of days, we appreciate you so many. but you are the best at what you do. >> we try to help people and save lives. we hope we can give you good advice to make good decisions. >> thank you. right now south carolina residents are hunkering down as winds and rain from hurricane ian wallop the state. i'm going to talk to the mayor of one coastal town about their preparations. first, how people in florida are just beginning to learn the scope of this damage and then making plans to rebuild eventually. we'll be right back. o rebuild eventually we'll be right back. covid-19. some people get it, and some people can get it bad. and for those who do get it bad, it may be because they have a high-risk factor. such as heart disease, diabetes, being overweight,

asthma, or smoking. even if symptoms feel mild, these factors can increase your risk of covid-19 turning severe. so, if you're at high risk and test positive, don't wait. ask your healthcare provider right away if an authorized oral treatment is right for you. power e*trade's easy-to-use tools like dynamic charting and risk-reward analysis help make trading feel effortless and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market with powerful, easy-to-use tools power e*trade makes complex trading easier react to fast-moving markets with dynamic charting and a futures ladder that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders so you won't miss an opportunity ♪ hit it!♪ ♪it takes two to make a thing go right♪ ♪it takes two to make it outta sight♪ ♪one, two, get loose now! it takes two to make a-♪ get double rewards points this fall.

book now at bestwestern.com. (vo) with their verizon private 5g network, associated british ports can now precisely orchestrate nearly get double rewards points this fall. 600,000 vehicles passing through their uk port every year. don't just connect your business. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) make it even smarter. we call this enterprise intelligence. the tenth pick is in the new all-american club. that's a “club” i want to join! let's hear from simone. chuck, that's a club i want to join! i literally just said that. i like her better than you the new subway series. what's your pick? why give your family just ordinary eggs when they can enjoy the best? eggland's best. the only eggs with more fresh and delicious taste.

plus, superior nutrition. which is now more important than ever. ♪♪ because the way we care... is anything but ordinary. only eggland's best. ♪♪ i heard this morning an apartment complex right here where a person had to swim out of their building. i'm 58 years old. i've never heard of something of this magnitude other than what happened with katrina in new orleans. >> that was a city commissioner just south of orlando reacting to the devastation that she's seeing after hurricane ian dropped record rainfall across

central florida. governor ron desantis calling it a 500-year flood event. orange county fire rescue said that 500 rescues were made just yesterday in the areas where the floodwaters are beginning to recede, the scope of the damage left behind, it is getting clearer, this is video shot this morning by a reporter with our nbc affiliate in orlando. you can see part of the road just completely washed out there. jesse kirsch is joining me from orlando. good to talk to you. how is orlando? how are they handling all of this? >> reporter: there are down trees all over. we haven't run into as many issues on flooding on roads as we did yesterday and more good news from officials late this morning, more people are getting power restored which is huge because yesterday it was cool out. it's getting sunny and warm out here. so you can imagine people are going to be relying more on the air-conditioning. all of that said, there are still communities underwater and

this is one of them. this is expected to be one of the harder-hit areas. and our photographer is pushing in on a basketball hoop out there. the orange part of the hoop should be around 10-feet high if it's a regulation hoop. you can see that going up the beam there, there is still a good amount of water. i can see by looking at the water line that the water is receding somewhat. but, again, this neighborhood is still essentially a lake at this point. in general, when we cover floods, you do not want to be seeing people trying to go inside, though, we do sometimes see people trying to go back into their homes to see what is left and you can imagine how heartbreaking the situation is for people. however, there is an added threat here in orlando. there are alligators in this water and i can tell you that we have seen one ourselves just within the last hour. so that is just one more layer of threat to ensure that hopefully people are staying out of the water. but we met a group -- their home

is just behind me here and they were looking at this and waiting to find out if they'll be able to get in and see what might still be salvageable. >> jesse kirsch for us, thank you. meanwhile, we're looking at south carolina, residents are bracing for their own impact from ian, just how bad it will get is the question here. the storm is still over 140 miles off the coast, but they're already feeling the wind. hurricane-force wind gusts are measuring around 70 miles per hour at this point. i want to bring in the mayor of port royal, south carolina. it's about 30 miles north of hilton head. mayor, thanks for joining us p. to a certain extent, and i'm using this word in a light way, but you guys got a little lucky because you're south of charleston, right, the storm is going to be making landfall

around georgetown, south carolina, nonetheless, i'm sure you feeling winds and rain there. how are folks preparing for what may be to come? >> yeah, thank you, first of all, for having me and first of all, we're going to keep our friends to the north and what's happened down in florida in our prayers and our thoughts. we have prepared for this storm and if you think about it, this is actually our third storm in five years that we've prepared for. so port royal and the blue water area has done everything they need to do to be prepared. but, yes, we have gotten lucky at this point. we're at high tide. it looks like flooding is going to be minimal to none. storm force at best. we're looking very good at this point. if we can make it through the rest of the day, we'll be in great shape. >> i believe the last hurricane that hit your state was matthew back in 2016.

there was a significant amount of flooding from matthew. also i believe a cat one at that point. are you worried, again, about similar things happening? i know evacuation orders were not in place for your area. >> no, matthew was a different storm. matthew paralleled the coast a little bit rather than what's happened here here. the flooding was dramatic at that point. we are not expecting that at this point. it's just going to be an all day rain with localized flooding. >> mayor, thank you. continue to stay safe amidst this. your community and long with you and your family as well. up next, we will check in on some of the other major stories. vladimir putin's plan to take over four massive regions of ukraine, what he is saying about all of that this morning. we'll be right back. right♪ ♪it takes two to make it outta sight♪ ♪one, two, get loose now! it takes two to make a-♪ get double rewards points this fall. book now at bestwestern.com. get double rewards points this fall.

when our daughter and her kids moved in with us... our bargain detergent couldn't keep up. turns out it's mostly water. so, we switched back to tide. one wash, stains are gone. [daughter] slurping don't pay for water. pay for clean. it's got to be tide. president biden has now signed the inflation reduction act into law. ok, so what exactly does it mean for you? out of pocket costs for drugs will be capped. for seniors, insulin will be just $35. families will save $2,400 on health care premiums. energy costs, down an average of $1,800 a year for families. and it's paid for by making the biggest corporations pay what they owe. president biden's bill doesn't fix everything, but it will save your family money. think he's posting about all that ancient roman coinage? no, he's seizing the moment with merrill. moving his money into his investment account in real time and that's... how you collect coins. your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company. bipolar depression. it made me feel trapped in a fog.

this is art inspired by real stories of bipolar depression. i just couldn't find my way out of it. the lows of bipolar depression can take you to a dark place. latuda could make a real difference in your symptoms. latuda was proven to significantly reduce bipolar depression symptoms. and in clinical studies, had no substantial impact on weight. this is where i want to be. call your doctor about sudden behavior changes or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. report fever, confusion, stiff or uncontrollable muscle movements, which may be life threatening or permanent. these aren't all the serious side effects. 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. (vo) with their verizon private 5g network, associated british ports can now precisely orchestrate nearly 600,000 vehicles passing through their uk port every year. don't just connect your business. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) make it even smarter. we call this enterprise intelligence. ♪ ♪

this is the moment. second blinken speaking on the comments made by vladimir putin overnight. let's listen in. >> we will ask the u.n. general assembly to make sure it's unacceptable to redraw borders by force. every country has a stake in condemning these steps. as the u.n. secretary-general said, the u.n. charter is clear. any annexation by another state by threat or force is a violation. the united states, canada and our other allies and partners will continue to assist ukraine in the fight to defend its territory against russian aggression. with new security systems that

we announced this week, the united states is now committed approximately $16.9 billion in security assistance to ukraine going back to january 2021. in our meeting, the foreign minister and i discussed ways to continue supporting ukraine and our european allies as they prepare for a difficult winter ahead. our commitment to ukraine's sovereignty, its territorial integrity is steadfast. the united states and canada will continue to work together at the g7 to help the populations hardest hit by president putin's war of choice, including by getting life saving aid to the people most affected by the unprecedented global food crisis. we will continue to make clear that we and our nato allies are prepared to defend every inch of nato territory. the united states and canada withstanding together in responding to virtually every major global challenge that is having an affect on our people, just as we have for 150 years.

canada is a deeply valued ally and partner across the arctic region and the arctic council where we are working together to promote sustainable economic growth while also combating the climate crisis. in the coming weeks, the united states will release our arctic strategy and we look forward to continuing to work closely with canada to make them a reality. like the united states, canada is both an atlantic and pacific nation. we saw that last week at the general assembly where canada joined the partners. these initiatives will further our shared goals of a prosper -- >> secretary blinken speaking from the state department in response to president putin's plan to annex certain ukrainian areas, saying it's a violation of u.n. charter. it's unacceptable to redraw borders based on force, taken by force. the u.s. is committed to

ukrainian independence and sovereignty. we want to go to jay gray with more. >> reporter: no real surprise from vladimir putin this morning in moscow, announcing russia will formally annex four regions of ukraine that make up about a fifth of this country, saying repeatedly that it was the choice of the people who live in those regions to become a part of the russian federation, referring to, of course, the referendums held, which much of the rest of the international world has called a sham, especially leaders here in kyiv, saying that many of the voters were forced to fill out ballots at gunpoint by russian soldiers. he also continued to say that the people of those regions will be, i'm quoting here, our citizens forever. it was the beginning of what was nearly an hour-long rambling diatribe aimed at leaders in the west and specifically the u.s. saying that they caused what he describes as this hybrid war and

that they were trying to take advantage of those who were weaker than the u.s. of course, here in kyiv, the response has repeatedly by from president zelenskyy and others that this has no affect. it has no standing. they will continue to push forward and retake the land that they can, the land that they say is still rightfully ukraine. they are continuing to push forward. he met today with his national security and defense council strategizing about what comes next and where they should go. we should point out that troops from ukraine are closing in on a key russian stronghold in donetsk. they're going to continue with the counteroffensive regardless of what is said by the kremlin and those in russia. he has promised, of course -- president zelenskyy -- that response to this fake referendum

as he calls it will be very harsh. that's the latest from here in kyiv. i'm jay gray. back to you. >> thanks to jay gray for that. that does it for me on this busy friday morning. catch me tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. "andrea mitchell reports" is next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (vo) with their verizon private 5g network, associated british ports can now precisely orchestrate nearly ♪ ♪ 600,000 vehicles passing through their uk port every year. don't just connect your business. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) make it even smarter. we call this enterprise intelligence.

the new subway series menu. the greatest sandwich roster ever assembled. tony, the new outlaw's got double pepper jack and juicy steak. let's get some more analysis on that, chuck. mmm. pepper jack. tender steak. very insightful, guys. the new subway series. what's your pick?

right now on "andrea mitchell reports," hurricane ian regaining strength throughout the morning ahead of a second major landfall. now along the georgia and south carolina coastline where 13 million residents are bracing for storm surge. in florida, the search through devastated nabd neighborhoods f missing residents. more than 2 million people are still without power. here in washington, president biden promising to provide federal assistance for anyone in need.