and clued in fort myers. we will go there in just a moment and now coming to be known as ground zero. satellite images showing areas there before and after the storm. survivors continuing to speak out about what they have endured. >> i sheltered in a closet until part of the roof came off. and then the wind came in there so that i just went behind the bed. and stay there. >> nothing about gratitude that we are here and for all that the people out there do. >> i will never ever not evacuate again. >> the power of that storm i mean if that would've crashed into the side of the house. we would have been swept away. >> all right happening now in sarasota county in west central florida. possible levee break, that is threatening flooding about to 15 feet in the hayden river community. the sarasota county sheriff's office tweeting a warning saturday morning. and then urging residents to shelter in place if it is safe to do so. some of the images come out and they're completely devastating already. florida growing jo

the national hurricane center cited life-threatening storm surge for fort myers at 5:00 p.m. monday. on tuesday morning the first mandatory orders were issued and expanded throughout the day. >> inkt was a little late. i think it should have been like monday, sometime monday because it's such a low-lying area and even though it was hitting tampa, tampa's right there. >> it's their whole life people don't want to leave their valuables behind >> reporter: in the midst of this dark chapter the chairman and ceo of florida power and light says recent changes to the infrastructure help expediting repairs >> we believe we're going to be done with everybody who can accept power and understand, there are thousands of structures that will not be able to accept power. by the close of business on friday >> reporter: a glimmer of light for a community still stunned by so much loss >> this is my mother's house. this is my whole life. my mom was supposed to retire here and spend the rest of her life and be happy and now we have nothing. >> sam, what kind of response are you hearing over the

if you haven't seen any pictures of fort myers beach, this is why.florida that's supposed to give us access when there's a state of emergency. but you got to feel for the sheriff's deputies just trying to manage the crowds that are piling in. you've got journalists, of course, you've got first responders, you have residents who are just curious who are coming by. and that's creating this huge pileup. but this is what i wanted to show you, this is across san carlos boulevard. just get a road of this, just wanton, indiscriminate destruction. i think about how a family saves up their whole life to buy a boat. or if you're a fisherman, you dream of being a captain one day and now perilous that is even in a good year sometimes. but now what this will do to the maritime businesses around here. the insurance, the marine insurance companies that will have to deal with the aftermath of this. and this is what i really wanted to show you, guys. look at this. i will always represent the sight of captain greg's boat "the cracker jack" now parked on top of this ac

that's home to places like fort myers, kick, all pine island.ounty manager tells cnn that it's not an overstatement at all. to say that hurricane ian decimated parts of the area. says quote, it's a look to someone just dropped from the sky. picked up hotels, and buildings, and took them away. at least 16 people are confirmed dead there. i want to win the county commissioner kevin lewin. commissioner, thank you for joining us tonight, i'm a looking at these pictures and the devastation, lee county, we are talking places like santa belle, pine island, fort myers beach, cape coral. this is unbelievable, devastation that we are seeing! what are you saying? and what does your community need most right now. >> so i had an opportunity yesterday to go up and in the holocaust, or review the area for about two and a half hours, saw the devastation, so i was here the interest doctor is compromised. we have roads, power, wi-fi, they were all compromised. so we are going to rebuild, repair, i'm here at the operation center in lee county, we are here with loc

, fort myers beach and sanibel island. until last tuesday the forecast had the tampa bay area taking a direct hit, but then the path of the storm shifted south to lee county. according to lee county's evacuation guidelines, however, as early as sunday fort myers was predicted to get a big enough storm surge to activate orders for residents to leave, but they did not. today the sheriffs stood by the timing of the evacuation orders. for those who choose to ride the storm out at home, it's too late. rescue teams are right now going door to door scrambling to get to stranded victims in time. >> reporter: the rescue and recovery operation after hurricane ian continuing on this small white sand island of fort myers beach located in lee county, an island that is now an island of rubble, 54 deaths now reported in this county alone. >> we're looking for anybody that may have been left behind. the devastation is hard to put into words. >> reporter: we joined a rescue operation that includes search and rescue dogs. >> we send the dog

fort myers beach is going to be closed basically.et some residents go back. >> yeah, we're heading back down there tomorrow and we just got word they will allow residents with their own boats to go out to sanibel island and say, look, be very careful. when we were there, with the cajun navy, there was a propane tank that had been thrown around and was just hissing, the gas, you could smell it in the air. a couple of house fires started that way. and but you can understand the pull, yo

i'm coming to you from fort myers, florida. this is one of the cities that was hit by hurricane ian. calling it a category four storm is putting it lightly. ian was just two miles per hour shy of being a category five hurricane. the likes of which have only been experienced four times in u.s. history. hurricane ian made landfall on wednesday afternoon in florida. maximum sustained winds measured at a stunning 155 miles per hour. those winds caused storm surges. a major hazard for this low-lying region. at this hour, more than 1.2 million people across florida remain without electricity. as of late yesterday, parts of the county, where i am now, where it made landfall, they did not have access to clean drinking water. many people have no running water whatsoever. it is hard to know exactly how many people are displaced right now. officials estimate that it is in the tens of thousands. at least 34 people have been confirmed dead so far. 12 of them right here in lee county. after barreling through florida, you can regain strength

for miles city councilman, and fort myers is a different cities in fort myers beach, a different place. he is a native of the town, fred, thank you for joining us. we appreciate it, you are not a city counselor in fort myers beach, but there are these situations all over the place. there are people whose existence was on the margins of society, and, they need help. what is your sense of how this is being addressed? >> well, i think the rescue people are doing everything they can to assist everybody, it is not just fort myers beach that was devastated, or sanibel island. a lot of these inland cities are devastated as well. fort myers is seven or eight miles inland, even though we are on the river, we are still inland from the coast. at the same time we ended up with both in downtown fort myers on the street because of flooding. and, fortunately they never came into the house but, my neighbors did not have water in their house, the people that i live next door to had four and five feet of water in their home. this is a wide swath of destruction, not isolated to just a couple of islands.

one road in and one road out in many of these parts of fort myers, heading into fort myers beach. that's part of the reason many of them have been cut off. on sunday when 4 to 7 foot surge advisories were put out, that was three days before hurricane ian made landfall. it was predicted for an area from bonita, the evacuation went out tuesday morning. that prognostication of what was coming was sunday night. i asked the sheriff about that today. here was his response. there are indications lee county's comprehensive emergency management plan was ignored -- >> let's talk about that, sir. i'm going to cut you off before you go any further. i don't know who you are or where you come from, everyone wants to focus on a plan that might have been done differently. i'm going to tell you i stand 100% with my county commissioners, my county manager. we did what we had to do at the exact same time. i wouldn't have changed anything, and i know being in those meetings from the very minute, this storm was very unpredictable. i called my brother five hours when he got word the storm was going to

the fort myers beach pier obliterated. and here's the before and after in an area around a well-known resort popular with spring breakers it is the blue building on the left there it is standing but nearly everything around it leveled there have been more than 700 rescues and they're ongoing now. the hurricane ravaged island of sanibel cut off. the only way to reach survivors is by boat or helicopter this is coast guard aircrew rescuing people along with their cats from a flooded mobile home park and this is the coast guard rescuing a survivor who rode out the hurricane in a boat. the storm surge left him hopelessly stuck and stranded in the middle of mangroves near sanibel. news team coverage again tonight. meteorologist adam del rosso with the latest track and perry russom with stories and shomari stone and it hit near myrtle beach, south carolina. >> reporter: i >> reporter: this shrimp boat washed ashore a couple of miles ago. it's an example of ian's powerful winds anchored 12 miles away and the strong winds pushed it

we have you covered with a void in fort myers with the latest on that meeting.ve, the recovery is just beginning. the white house john kirby and where these recovery efforts are going. welcome, everybody, a very, very busy news day and something rare you seek cooperation from both sides of the aisle because the people in florida demanded it but more to the point, the leaders offered it. momentarily. let's go to nate boyd in fort myers with more. >> good afternoon, neil a cordial vision cor to mike visit between president biden and governor ron desantis and over s over into fort myers beach. they were there recently and the president just left under an hour ago at this point and you mentioned it was cordial. the president said he has done a good job responding to this hurricane but governor desantis is very thankful of the government assistance he received. i wanted to show you a moment just again here fort myers beach pier they were also joined with leaders including the fema administrator as well as senators rick scott marco rubio, congressman byron mcdonald's,

and the storm surge around fort myers. and the myakka river you're talking about, interstate 75 is closed due to flooding and up here in an agricultural, more rural area is where the concern for that levee potentially that could have some issues. it did have a breach in 2003, and that was when they got 20 inches of rain over a three-day period. here they got 20 inches of rain in under 24 hours and because of that, we're seeing all of this flooding. latest observation is at 12.67 feet and this is its highest ever flood. that's going to stay at that level for a couple of days. florida is so flat that water doesn't have any gravity, really, to pull it down like you would see flash flooding in mountains. this is going to be a slower flooding situation as the water has to drain off of the flat area of florida. all right, here is where ian is now, heavy rain moving in across parts of martha's vineyard and nantucket, cape cod, southern parts of new england seeing the rain and then back across areas of west virginia. we're going t

she was on that side of fort myers beach. in fact, an nbc crew was allowed to go in there earlier today and they confirmed that it's part of the search now triage to day they are still recovering bodies, unfortunately, in that area. one of the hardest hit areas fort myers beach. . >> talking about how folks are dealing with this the other de station's night, their homes, after this hurricane. >> people were affected in different ways. we are talking about ground zero, that part, a lot of structures were destroyed we've seen the area with the images. i'm standing in an area where you still see some of >> the most affected presidents the one who's home for destroyed who had neighbors found in -- after being evacuate from the bridge, this is the bridge, like i said, that connects to fort myers beach. we saw ministers go in and out all day long. we don't know who's in the ambulance on the way in and out. a lot of the people in this mandatory evacuation will be brought out, very emotional -- >> mass of people being dropped off by

i'm joined now by bill weir in fort myers. and i know you tried to get into fort myers beach today. going to tell us about that journey, but also one of the things you're seeing and you really see it everywhere is boats in just impossible places. >> reporter: absolutely. that just -- all of them, an illustration of the physics of the storm that did the most amazing things. i was on my way because we heard 90% of fort myers beach was wiped out. the road was closed there by the sheriff's department. it sounds like they're going to open that up in coming days, but while we're sitting there and looking around and look at the images of this crackerjack, the charter yacht parked on the top of a chevy suburban with the alarm going off inside to alert the captain something is wrong. and there is this yacht across the boulevard had to be shoved across. they're bringing in this heavy equipment to try to move all this debris out of the way. they're shoving it for the time being. but then take a look at this footage. you compare that to what's happening here in fort myers. this is near the yach

neil: ken anderson of fort myers, florida -- kevin ankerson.e're going to be talking about marco island. service hit as well. some of the stories coming out of there about what happened when the storm hit, beyond incredible. after this. >> look, this is, this is -- look at this. [background sounds] this is our tree that a goes another 3 feet down. many of you have served our country honorably. one of the benefits that we as a country give you as a veteran is the eligibility for a va loan, for up to 100% of your home's value. if you need cash for you family, call newday usa. with automatic authority from the va, we can say yes when banks say no... give us a call. this was right by the pawl >> and here's the front of the house. look at the mailboxes. they were covered, water over the mailboxes. so it's gone down. the current's pushing that way. but, like, the mail boxes were completely underwater. look at the car. i hope they turn on because my car was up to the door. but now it's lore. but with i hope they turn on. look, we need a boat to to go

we are seeing in the fort myers beach area days after hurricane ian came through. you have a boat crushing this s.u.v. beneath it then feet away, this was someone's business. now it's it's a pile of debris. as cleanup efforts continue in fort in fort myers, florida, goes res are coming to terms with the massive damage that hurricane ian inflicted. >> the kitchen has to come out,e bathrooms. a redo. >> devastated seeing what happed to the property. it was hard to comprehend. >> reporter: before and after se images show the destruction. >> from here on out we will exi. >> we are existing but not livi. our life is right there. >> reporter: hundreds of thousas of people are still without power. >> rest assured they are workind to get the lights back on. >> reporter: fuel and water aren short supply. state officials are defending the timing of evacuation orders in the fort myers area that some say didn'te soon enough. >> those folks at the local levl as the storm started to shift, they took that data then acted appropriately. >> reporter: the destruction ise in fort mye

florida governor, ron desantis, is holding a news conference or in fort myers.ke a listen in. >> -- be able to go shop and get groceries, to be able to do those things. so, we were in charlotte county before i came here, and we went and visited one of the waffle houses that's open, serving first responders as well as the general public. and so, i just want to say we spoke about the people doing search and rescue, god bless them. we talk about the folks doing logistics, bringing the stuff here. i will talk a little more about that in a second. god bless them. but, you know, folks just doing their role in the private sector means an awful lot. and i was really pleased to see that. we didn't know when some of those places would be open. i was chiming in, i saw walmart open again. so, that's going to make a huge difference as we go forward here. over the last 72 hours, there have been over 1100 confirmed rescues made by first responders. and likely many more than that. those are the reported ones as of 6:00 this morning. we have been in lee county now three days in

i'm joined now by bill weir in fort myers. and i know you tried to get into fort myers beach today.ing to tell us about that journey, but also one of the things you're seeing and you really see it everywhere is boats in just impossible places. >> reporter: absolutely. that just -- all of them, an illustration of the physics of the storm that did the most amazing things. i was on my way because we heard 90% of fort myers beach was wiped out. the road was closed there by the sheriff's department. it sounds like they're going to open that up in coming days, but while we're sitting there and looking around and look at the images of this crackerjack, the charter yacht parked on the top of a chevy suburban with the alarm going off inside to alert the captain something is wrong. and there is this yacht across the boulevard had to be shoved across. they're bringing in this heavy equipment to try to move all this debris out of the way. they're shoving it for the time being. but then take a look at this footage. you compare that to what's happening here in fort myers. this is near the yacht b

we were at fort myers beach.esterday they were in arcadia because we've had all kinds of resurgence of water coming back in. i'm not sure where it came from, but they closed i-75 last night. we did rescues till midnight. we could have gone all night, but we do have to get some sleep, a little bit. i guess that's what we're going to be dealing with this morning. we're going to go to punta gorda where a bridge has collapsed. and water -- last night there were people on their roofs again, people floating with air mattresses. yeah, it was a total chaotic scene last night. >> yeah. it's important to remember that with this much damage and this much water coming onto land, it's going to take a few days for people to actually be able to get out because there's just so much damage and it's so widespread. as you note, the work is strenuous. we appreciate what you're doing, gary. i imagine when you talk to some of these folks, including that couple you talked to in their 90s, it's going to be a difficult time for them beca

it is just in to cnn out of the fort myers area.t to residents who are filing into line. we learned this morning that officials have actually adjusted the overnight curfew. the original curfew was set on wednesday and it was set to expire after 48 hours. the curfew is now set from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. until further notice. they are asking people to stay out of the hardest hit areas and they shouldn't go out into the street past 9:00 p.m. only on official business or in the case of an energy, just to make things easier for the crews. we take a look at the headline from the "tampa bay times" that says it all. "florida brought to its knees." of course, as far south as fort myers beach to sanibel, naples, orlando, all of florida has been devastated. and among the hardest hit areas by hurricane ian, lee county has borne the brunt of this storm. there is aerial footage that shows the catastrophic damage left behind here. entire towns like sanibel island pulverized by wind and then washed away by the historic storm surge. large parts of

you're a resident of fort myers.ou decided to ride out ian in your condo building even though it had became inundated. it became quite an ordeal. we have footage to share of what you went through. i imagine seeing footage from other parts of this area, you probably consider yourself lucky. >> yeah, we do. i think the biggest issue is water around here. some of the places are on generator power, but most without water and electricity. at this point the water becomes so critical. where we were at a high-rise on the river front here in fort myers, we were on the 27th floor, our first floor got completely flooded out. cars were floating out. we got a couple of shots down there. the wind really held up in the building, but around us is destr destruction. >> what is going through your mind when this hurricane was a category 3 and then seemingly within hours it shoots to almost a category 5, a shade under category 5, and you're deciding whether you're going to stay wlrk you're going to leave, and you see conditions deterior

that's where sanibel island, fort myers and other areas are located. when do you expect things like electricity and water to be back? and can those residents move back to places like sanibel island, this year? >> yeah, there's going to be a lot of issues, especially in those areas of the greatest impact.r 2min omer witut power immediately following the storm% and the power companies have done an amazing job of getting things restored as quickly as possible. but those hardest hit areas, they're going to take some more time. we know there's a water issue right now in lee county. we brought in support from the army corps of engineers to work with the state, to work with the county officials to assess the extent of that damage, and what is it going to take to help repair it or at least put some temporary measures in place. beside that, we know so many homes -- i saw firsthand when i was there friday and saturday, so many homes completely destroyed. and so we are going to make sure that we are getting the right people in there to help provide the temporary

he's in fort myers again tonight. rob, this storm is moving up the east coast, still very widespread impacts ahead. >> reporter: indeed, the the back side of this is actually bringing good weather for rescue and recovery efforts here, but the front side heading north, it's bad news all the way. 40 miles northwest of myrtle beach, south carolina, heading into north carolina. most of the action north of the ce we got the tornado watch up from the carolina border through virginia beach. and the northwest quadrant of this storm continues to be a very strong one. big cities like charlotte, like columbia, raleigh durham, roanoke, richmond, all getting heavy rain. more power outages will be happening as elwyn said. d.c., baltimore, and then on the coastline, atlantic city, wind gusts up and over 40, 50 miles an hour. early morning hours into new york city and up the i-95 corridor will release heavy rain here. 3 to 6 inches of rain along the i-95 corridor, down through philly and york. that's enough to flood urbanwise. it's n

boris sanchez is live in fort myers. in this press conference about to begin, what are we expected to hear? zbl >> reporter: well, we are expecting an update from the sheriff of lee county on the death toll and the question that they couldn't answer for us yesterday, how many people remain missing. obviously it is a delicate operation here in lee county, specifically in fort myers beach which the sheriff announced was closed off even to residents in part because this search and rescue efforts is slowly transitioning into a search and recovery effort. the sheriff revealed to us that his team is encountering some morbid scenes as they begin to move debris and comb through the wreckage. they are discovered cadaver and that is why you see the death toll climbing the way that it has. more than 100 fatalities here in the state of florida. the sheriff yesterday saying they simply don't know exactly how many people are still missing out there. here was his response, what he shared with cnn during yesterday's press briefing when

goes to fort myers beach. are at the beginning of fort myers beach, the bridge that goes into another area, that is the most effective area. what we knew is that authorities were blocking the entrance that we're allowing residents to go out, but in fact, they just informed that they now have a mandatory evacuation for all of the residents inside that area, fort myers beach, as of this afternoon. they have to evacuate because they are still continuing with a search and rescue operation, and members of fema told us that it is very difficult to identify people on the island who need help, and those that have decided to come back to try to find what is left inside their homes. that is why they decided to move everyone out of the island, as they still continue rescuing people. i ask for examples, what kind of people are used to rescuing? they said we found somebody on the third floor, an older person, who did not have a way to come down because the stairs were washed away. we had to rescue them. they found someone

kaylee lane rode out the storm on fort myers beach. she and her family now forced to say goodbye to their home. >> light into a suitcase. >> just a horrible situation down there in southwest florida. that was brooke shaffer reporting for us tonight. all right here locally, we're going to be taking a live look now across the bay area. this is from our mount tam cam. it's kind of hard to tell. >> we're actually looking at anything other than 5 bright word is fog and cloud in here with socked in with the fog right now. rodriguez joining us now to look at the forecast in just how long this fog going to be hanging around recent. yeah, definitely through sunday fog tobar certainly living up to its name for the first weekend. let's take a look, though, at radar for. >> because we are tracking remnants of what was once hurricane ian now tropical storm ian making its way throughout parts of the east coast, specifically over charleston and pittsburgh. widespread light showers right now and even some pockets of moderate rain so far. pittsburgh, y

she moved to fort myers beach just a couple of years ago. she says she instantly fell in love with the town and started planning roots there. but now she's heartbroken that it was all taken away in less than 24 hours. >> it was like a magical place. it was just this hole community. people some pointed you love to you work hard. off with you. we'll bring you anything. do anything for you know what terry o'reilly reminiscing about fort myers beach, a place she called heaven and home. >> before hurricane ian ripped it all apart. we're grateful to be alive. yeah. i mean, when you look at the images are house. what we call. there's nothing. it's just wet. lumber. nothing remaining. i all of our staff strollers, the whole you name it. it's gone with no home to return to like thousands of others on fort myers beach. >> carrie and her daughter summer wind are now staying with kerry, sister kelly in san francisco. kelly was also in southwest florida when the hurricane hit making a surprise visit to fort myers beach for summer wins. first birthday, ju

officials say they don't have a time line for when residents can return to fort myers beach. layla san tiago is there and she shows us the tough conditions rescue workers are facing. >> reporter: the rescue and recovery operation after hurricane ian continuing on the small white sand island of fort myers. an island that is a pile of rubble with more than 100 deaths so far, 54 reported in this county so far. >> search. >> anybody that may have been left behind. the devastation is hard to put into words. >> reporter: we joined a fema operation. not a singsle door being overlooked. >> send the dog in. sniff around. if we don't readily see them. we'll walk up and start hollering in. if we will hear anything, we'll bring a second dog up. >> reporter: as we walked around on fort myers beach, there is destruction everywhere. the water that came in here just decimated this area. a lot of people are asking us when will power come back? how long will it take to recover? it will be different for some folks. where i am standing right now, this used to be a home. now stairs that lead to n

they wouldn't allow it. >> reporter: joe mcinerney lives on fort myers beach. how many people did you say? >> we pulled five out, we rescued five. >> reporter: mcinerney says he was staying with his fiancee liana and a dog end zone with enough lies last week. mcinerney says he wanted to stay and help. but too deputies from the sheriff's office told him if he stepped out of his home, they would pick him up and ship him out. he left on his own. >> i lost things, i lost people. we know people that have died but we haven't found them. >> reporter: mcinerney says he wants to go home. >> they keep saying we are in the way. we are not in the way. i think the fema response has been absolutely weak. they airdropped it the next day. >> reporter: you think fort myers beach will ever be what it was? >> no. >> reporter: decided what fort myers beach will be, rescue teams are evaluating what it is. >> can't have it interferes by a lot of people who are trying to come in and start the rebuilding process. this area is not ready for that yet. >> reporter: carol tells us their u

the fort myers pier obliterated. and here's the before and after in a well known resort that's very popular with spring breakers it's the blue building on the left there it is standing, but nearly everything around it leveled there have been more than 700 rescues, and they're ongoing now. sanibel now cut off after the storm knocked out the only bridge to the mainland the only way to reach rur vooifrs is by boat or air. and this is the coast guard rescuing a survivor who rode out the hurricane in a boat. the storm surge left him hopelessly stuck and stranded. we have news team coverage again tonight. adam with the latest track on ian's movement perry with some harrowing stories from survivors in southwest florida. first to shomari stone where the hurricane first hit carolina. >> reporter: well, this shrimp boat behind me washed ashore a couple of hours ago. it was anchored 12 miles away, and the strong winds pushed it here no one was injured and no one was on the boat at the time. now, rescues were made here earlier,

fort myers beach in the barrier island.e city itself, we were fortunate, we have no reported deaths related to the hurricane. >> oh, that's good news. as you know, there are some residents who are wondering whether it would have helped to get an evacuation order earlier. do you think that lives could have been saved if an evacuation for lee county had been given on monday, instead of a day later on tuesday? >> i don't think it would have made a difference because we start pushing hurricane awareness in june. we push people to plan. to have a plan for evacuation if need be. you know, if you plan, you don't panic. the most predictable thing about a hurricane is that it's unpredictable. so until people learn to follow the advisory, to plan, not wait until it's too late, that's what will save lives. >> i understand. and i hear you, but obviously, in june, it's still abstract. all of these warnings are abstract until you see it bearing down on you. so, do you still think there were urgent enough messages from local officials fro

nbc news correspondent juan veneta's with me in fort myers florida.f the hardest hit areas in. distort what are things like on the ground right now? >> alicia, the search and rescue efforts at this moment i could see two trucks from the fire department that are going into the area of fort myers beach. all day long we've seen ambulances going in and out. vehicles from the national guard helping to evacuate some of the -- fort myers beach. there's a bridge that connects this area where we are at. so, there's people that stay there and survived the storm. they've been getting evacuated during the day. and there's others who laughed during the storm or right before the storm that is. who are now returning to find what's left of their property. a lot of us see the images on television, you've seen the houses, businesses that have been completely destroyed. then you see other structures that seemed to have survived the storm, structures that are still standing. but you go inside a lot of these, the owners have provided us inside and everything inside's been

>> we have guardian angels in fort myers to begin with and tampa, st. in more from the east coast from fort pierce. we're doing wellness checks. as you know a lot of senior citizens still stuck in their homes and we're also checking on a lot of the animals. a lot of the animals have been stuck in hopes that humans had to abandon when the floods came through, we're distributing water which is so necessary, food, and just helping to try to repair that part of florida. we got to put aside political differences. this isn't time for democrats and republicans to come together , and help put florida back together again, and help all those in need. not based on equity vice president harris. based on need. >> cheryl: curtis sliwa, thank you for all your efforts in this city, fort myers thank you to your wife for her efforts when it comes to animal rescue. i'm one of her biggest fans please tell her hello. curtis thank you very much. >> thank you. >> cheryl: well the dow is hitting session highs right now, and we are going to be right back, dow up 720. i'll take

this is from fort myers beach. this is just a couple miles, maybe less than a couple miles down the road from where we're standing right now. on the left-hand side a thriving beach community and on the right empty lots where buildings once food, where an economy thrived, where families like mine came to vacation and made memories. here's a look at sanibel island where my folks, my mom and my sister spent a good part of the summer. they are cut off from the mainland sanibel right now. it is only accessible by boat or helicopter. so many homes and businesses have been swept away all across the region and, again, an early estimate for how much was lost financially, $47 billion. it would make it the most expensive storm in state history. that is, of course, noting the loss of life, at least 66 people killed because of this storm and potentially more as search and rescue efforts now continue. we want to bring in lee county commissioner and former mayor of sanibel island joining us this morning. sir, we're grateful to ha

and you have places like fort myers beach, santa bell, some of those areas really where the front line got the massive storm surge and an extensive damage throughout there. you also have charlotte county had damaged north north part of naples and collier county. the one of the things that we're working on and is having staged all the power and everything is the restoration of services right now statewide, 85% of customers have power and the main outages are of course in lee and charlotte counties have the most as well as hardy. but then you also have about half out in collier, you have about half out in sarasota and then it really gets better in many other parts of the state until you get seminoles, about a third out of 40% out. evolution is about 50% out, flagler is probably about 40 to 50% out, but then it gets much better as you get to st john's in jacksonville, nassau county. and so there was over 42,000 folks staged, they went in immediately, they went in immediately to try to minimize those disruptions and really they're adding more customers back online every hour. i think it's

fort myers beach that morning started encouraging its residents to get out.nday night, the town posted on its social media, the risk was so great, people needed to evacuate, even though lee county wouldn't make an evacuation decision until tuesday morning. when lee county finally did, it was less than 24 hours before ian's arrival. norah. >> o'donnell: not a lot of time for people to get ready. kris van cleave, thank you. well, one of the hardest hit areas was sanibel island, where tonight officials are urgently trying to evacuate any remaining residents. the mayor has called sanibel "uninhabitable" after hurricane ian tore through the island. cbs' manuel bojorquez saw the devastation up close. good evening, manuel. >> reporter: good evening, norah. some island communities remain accessible only by air or by boat. that's how we were able to see today firsthand the devastation over on sanibel island, where the vast majority of its 6,500 year-round residents did evacuate ahead of the storm. arriving by boat, the damage soon becomes clear. but it's by air that y

nate foy is live in fort myers was going on here. i'd a friend who lost her house completely. a total sand, just wiped away they are down there helping their neighbors try to get things back together. how is that spirit going on this sunday? >> eric, i've got to totally we are seeing down here is staggering. whether it be on fort myers beach like you said a lot of the island does not exist anymore, homes have been destroyed for a downtown fort myers at centennial park where a memorial is growing unfortunately for all the people who died during hurricane ian. i guess my per photographer, nick to show you this memorial i counted 22 pictures with names, each one has a corresponding cross. you see people here in fort myers coming and taking videos paying their respects, flowers and candles at the base of this but you cannot see it but at the end there are some paintbrushes and pieces of wood and brick were people can write their own messages. some of these messages are for individuals. others are for southwest florida. now, i mention unfortunately the number of victims is growing.

. >> i'm manuel bojorquez in fort myers where people share stories about how they survived. >> furtherth, floodwater it ises receding on the carolina coast. >> the storm's impact is being felt, but some say they escaped the worst of ian's wrath. >> also tonight, hostages freed. seven americans, some detained for more than four years in venezuela to return home. we'll have details on the arrangement. >>> plus, russian retreat. a day after president putin announced he is annexing the region, his soldiers withdraw from a key ukrainian city. charlie d'agata has the details. >> and later, marking a milestone. this hollywood beauty getting a well-deserved facelift ready for his close-up. >> it's almost like meeting a celebrity. >> the hollywood sign is a celebrity. ♪ ♪ >>> this is "the cbs weekend news." >> good evening. i'm errol barnett in for adriana diaz. tonight cbs news is learning the number of people who lost their lives for what was hurricane ian could be at least 76 with more than a million people still without power and countless others with homes totally destroyed. in fort myers

nate foy live in fort myers with more on this. nate, to you.y, the rebuilding process is overwhelming but the grief is equally or more overwhelming with the number of people killed during hurricane ian unfortunately going up and where we are in centennial park in fort myers there's a memorial to hon or those lives lost. this went up immediately after the hurricane, one of the two men that started the memorial has donated to the city of fort myers. there's a table with paint, paint brushes and people have been coming up and writing messages on bricks, making crosses, many of the messages are for individual who is lost their lives during hurricane ian and other messages for fort myers and southwest florida but unfortunately the number of victims continues going up and on fort myers beach search and recovery missions continue. take a look at this video, florida task force continues scouring the island, they confirmed with us their cadaver dogs are picking up new scents this week, however, they have also pulled people off the island alive, some of

tonight, ali velshi reports live from fort myers beach, florida. good evening, ali, we are looking for to this. >> good evening to the rest of you, as alex said i am here tonight in fort myers beach in florida, southwest coast, red where hurricane ian made landfall on wednesday afternoon. i want to implore you tonight to listen closely. this is not a weather story, it's not even a natural disaster story, it's a human disaster story. you see in the video, the weather, the wind the flooding, you've seen the aftermath, the broken things, the houses, the buildings, the bridges, the boats, destroyed. but these images don't show you the lives that are broken. people on the margins whose homes, whose jobs, even their own bodies and their health are now precarious. people who don't have the insurance or the resources to rebuild. my team down here and i went for a drive here not far from where we discovered dozens of people at a shrimping dock for whom that is the situation tonight. no one has reached them and it is not clear if anyone has tried, but i saw

he joins us now from fort myers in florida. sir, thank you very much for your time. it must be, well, an exhausting couple of days for you. tell us, when did you arrive? what have you witnessed? >> yeah, it's been a very rough couple of several days here. both as a disaster physician and also as a medical director out hear. >> reporter: now, can you tell us a little more about what the state of the hospital is in the affected areas? and if people in those affected areas have any access to health care services? >> from what i've been told when we do our recon and information, they're still providing care as needed for everybody. but we are having problems with water and water temperature throughout the region, and so what has been going on behind the scenes is figuring out the best places for people to go to. spreading it out through collier county, broward county, et cetera. >> reporter: is there enough help for people who need it? >> all the help is here for people as they need it. absolutely. it might be a little difficult to get it to them but it is there and we'r

cbs' kris van cleave reports tonight from hard-hit fort myers beach.' manuel bojorquez travels by boat to isolated sanibel island. >> reporter: some of the scenes are most >> ukraine recaptures a key city. cbs' charlie d'agata reports tonight as russian troops respond with missile attacks. >> reporter: neighbors tell us a grandmother, a mother, and two small children were killed as they slept. >> in our exclusive interview with the head of the c.i.a., we ask how vladimir putin may react to the battlefield losses. you make it sound like he's even more dangerous. systemic abuse inside women's soccer. the explosive report detailing sexual misconduct, verbal and emotional abuse. and why kim kardashian was fined more than $1 million after promoting cryptocurrency. this is the "cbs evening news" >> good evening, and thank you for joining us as we start a new week together. well, tonight, florida residents are reeling from the catastrophic damage of hurricane ian. the death toll stands at 95, but, sadly, that number is expected to rise. and five days since th

you coming, up i am here in fort myers beach tonight.e biggest news in the world tonight is the escalation be between vladimir putin and ukraine and the challenges that posed to the west. we will talk about that, next. bout that, next. [ sneezing ] are you okay? oh, it's just a cold. if you have high blood pressure, a cold is not just a cold. coricidin is the #1 doctor recommended cold and flu brand. specially designed for people with high blood pressure. be there for life's best moments. trust coricidin. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all-electric with room for up to seven. it's the suv electric has been waiting for. the all-new eqb from mercedes-benz. ♪ ♪ becoming a morning person starts the night before with new neuriva relax and sleep. it has l-theanine to help me relax from daily stress. plus, shoden ashwagandha for quality sleep. so i can wake up refreshed. neuriva: think bigger. announcer: type 2 diabetes? so i can wake up refreshed. discover the power of 3 in the ozempic® tri-zone. in my ozempic® tri-zone, i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weigh

lots of friends in the fort myers area and naples area.urs is the one that is going it make that turn like janice said. everyone thought it was going to tampa next thing you know going to fort myers. car. >> ainsley: i interviewed this soldier bible study. i was in the middle of the war, i believe it was afghanistan. he said it was our fiercest battle yet my wife had just told me she was pregnant. i wanted to go home. what's my alternative. i'm either going to heaven my home there to be with god or going back to the united states and meet my child. either way was beautiful. i'm just going to run toward the war and just fight my tail off. >> yeah. i really think the best day in a believer's life is the day we die, actually. and we go into -- where the world is perfect. and there is no more tears and no more suffering. our prayers should be for the living who are -- have lost someone that they love. because the bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord. so that's comforting to me. you know. >> steve: that's a time

parts of the fort myers from that strike are uninhabitable.y just need that support and once that happens, let the government come in and clean up and assess the area and re-establish power and then people can then reach out to insurance firms and figure out the status and figure out the next move. but you can't do that from an disaster zone. it is impossible. >> when can evacuees return and what is your message to people wanting to return to their homes? >> i understand it. i think it depends on where you were in relation to the strike. i think that does matter and the level of damage. if you are on the outer, i am in naples south of the fort myerss. the gas stations are open and hotels are on generator and in the next 48 hours, you will see naples down to 20% of the homes without electricity and they will be in good shape. north of fortmyeres same situation. but you are in fort myeres. this is a row build. not refur bishment. the electrical and water and sewer system, from ground up. i think it does not make sense to go in for 3 or 4 weeks.

cbs' kris van cleave reports tonight from hard-hit fort myers beach. plus, cbs' manuel bojorquez travels by boat to isolated sanibel island. >> reporter: some of the scenes are almost apocalyptic. >> o'donnell: ukraine recaptures a key city. cbs' charlie d'agata reports tonight as russian troops respond with missile attacks. >> reporter: neighbors tell us a grandmother, a mother, and two small children were killed as they slept. >> o'donnell: in our exclusive interview with the head of the c.i.a., we ask how vladimir putin may react to the battlefield losses. you make it sound like he's even more dangerous. systemic abuse inside women's soccer. the explosive report detailing sexual misconduct, verbal and emotional abuse. and why kim kardashian was fined more than $1 million after promoting cryptocurrency. >> this is the "cbs evening news" with norah o'donnell, reporting from the nation's capital. >> o'donnell: good evening, and thank you for joining us as we start a new week together. woman, tonight, florida residents are reeling from the catastrophic

you are in fort myers beach just a week before. are actually at our wedding venue which is a big shipyard right on the water. they are putting in floors and painting walls. days later, the hurricane comes in and we get picture of our wedding venue being demolished. >> i know you wanted to go and take a look at things as we look at you during happier times before the storm actually came. why did you decide to do this instead to rally the nashville troops to go ahead and put together this benefit concert. >> my first inkling was how do we get there and help? they canceled our flights and shutdown the airport and shut down their bridge to the beach. my second thought was i have been put on benefits. i lost my mom. i helped raise $50 million to fight against alzheimer's. what is the next best thing that we can do? rally the troops and bring together some artists that are really good friends of ours and help raise some money and write them a big check. in -- we started playing this concert actually on the day that we were supposed to ge