>> skyler henry and jason allen, thank you. >>> to the middle east now. new fears of a wider war.oday israel took aim at what it called military targets of the houthi terrorist regime in yemen. the attacks come as hezbollah and lebanon confirm the assassination of a seventh senior leader. cbs' imtiaz tyab is in beirut. >> reporter: good evening. israel's offensive against iranian-backed militant groups is spreading across the middle east tonight. the strikes in yemen come just a day after it was confirmed the leader of hebron, hassan nasrallah, was assassinate heard in beirut. in a video released by hezbollah, the bodies of hassan nasrallah and two others killed in israel's massive friday night strikes are wrapped in burial shrouds. as israeli warplanes continue to pound the same southern beirut neighborhood he was targeted in. at least 19 hezbollah commanders have been killed over the past few months, including one today. but the deadliest israeli strike was on this building in southern lebanon, where displaced people had been sheltering in the predominantly christian village, ki

we have two reports tonight beginning with jason allen in florida. jason, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, nancy. you know, these pilings back here, these held up a single story house here more than 70 years. when you have damage this catastrophic, search crews have been combing this area throughout the day. but the governor said today there have been no deaths here. hurricane helene delivering the knock-out punch to keyton beach. >> what do we do now? do we keep -- do we continue to do this. >> reporter: he returned to find the lower level of his home ripped away by wind and water. taylor county officials estimate 90% of homes in keaton beach are gone. >> this is where our home was. >> reporter: helene broke storm surge records when it made landfall thursday night. statewide, crews conducted thousands of rescue missions. access to the barrier islands west of tampa just opened to residents late today. officials say communities there have no power, no water and catastrophic flood damage. the remnants of the storm are now spinning north. >> rep

cbs' jason allen is on florida's big bend with the preparations. >> reporter: all along florida's west coast people are fueling up. >> i got about three quarters of a tank now. we're trying to get it. never know. >> reporter: and boarding up ahead of helene. here in the coastal town of east point business owners are taking no chances, shutting down days before the storm hits. mandatory evacuation orders are already in effect for some people living in coastal or low-lying areas. florida governor ron desantis is urging residents to prepare now. >> right now regardless of how it forms or the speed, right now you do have time. so take advantage of that time. >> reporter: inland in tallahassee city officials fear the storm could knock out power. when you see a storm track like this, how much does it concern you? >> it's very concerning. i'm from tallahassee, this is my hometown. we've never seen a storm of this mgnitude that could be a direct hit to tallahassee. >> reporter: with up to 15-foot storm surges predicted residents are also concerned. >> staying for the storm? >> this is differen

jason allen, new orleans. >>> now what's left of francine is moving north. while its winds will go below tropical storm strength later today, there is still a risk of flash floods and isolated tornadoes from tennessee to the florida panhandle. three to six inches of rainfall are still yet to come. heaviest over parts of tennessee, alabama, and mississippi. >>> firefighters in southern california have been busy battling three big wildfires. the airport fire has now burned through more than 23,000 acres in orange and riverside counties. at least nine people have been injured, and hundreds are under evacuation orders. the bridge fire east of los angeles also continues to grow. it spread to more than 50,000 acres and was 0% contained yesterday. it's now the largest active fire in the state of california. and authorities have arrested and charged 34-year-old justin halstenberg for allegedly starting the line fire that now ravaged more than 36,000 acres. >>> to the presidential race now. vice president kamala harris and former president donald trump return to the

. >> i'm jason allen in cedar key, florida where there's damage from one house to the next to the nextand you will find this extending for hundreds of miles to the north. >> reporter: heather greenwood has lived on cedar key for the last five years and manages the town's bed and breakfast. >> so many of these island people work so hard and they've just lost everything. >> reporter: florida governor ron desantis said the damage from helene appears to be greater than the combined effects of idalia and hurricane debbie in august. >> idalia was a major hurricane but you had homes that didn't even have major damage with idalia. some of those homes were totally destroyed. i mean, it was really, really catastrophic. >> thanks to skyler henry and jason allen for those reports. moving now overseas to the middle east, where israeli airstrikes have hit central beirut for the first time in nearly a year of conflict. israel also struck at the iran-backed houthi regime in yemen on sunday. as cbs's natalie brand reports from the white house, president biden says he does not want to see a wider war in

cbs's jason allen is on the ground. and jason, what are you seeing tonight?reporter: good evening, maurice. this community has been hit by three hurricanes now, three hurricanes in 13 months, and this one clearly hit the hardest. it destroyed some buildings that had survived those other storms. florida was rocked by helene's first punch, making landfall late thursday as a dangerous category 4 hurricane, with 140 mile-per-hour winds and up to 14 inches of rain. in the midst of the storm off sanibel island, this coast guard crew made a daring rescue, saving a man and his dog who were stranded on his 36-foot sailboat, taking on water. >> we have a lot of damage throughout the state. water mostly on the west coast and the peninsula. >> reporter: in steinhatchee, 48 hours earlier, storm-weary residents had prayed helene would miss them, but waterside docks and restaurants that once stood here, though, are now gone. the storm surge shoved buildings off their foundations. >> if you let it play with your mind, you just can't go there. you can't. it's horrible. >> rep

cbs's jason allen is 200 miles up the coast in crawfordville, florida, close to where helene will makedfall, and what are you seeing where you are, jason? >> reporter: good evening, norah. we have steady rain now here in crawfordville, and the wind is increasingly gusty. the storm still about 100 miles conditions are only going toow- continue to deteriorate over the next few hours. you don't see water behind me like you did where manny is. the reason is because we are about 2.5-3 miles away from the water, and that is because we feel this is as close as we can safely be. with that storm surge, it's enough to push this many miles inland, that would cut off any escape routes here on the roads. and governor ron desantis had a message for people today who might still be thinking there is time to get out on the road tonight. >> but don't put yourself at risk. we have fatalities on the roadways, in hazardous conditions, almost every storm, and those can be avoidable. >> reporter: the sheriff of this county warned people that an intersection just down the road from us could end up under 9 fee

cbs's jason allen is 200 miles up the coast in crawfordville, florida, close to where helene will makedfall, and what are you seeing where you are, jason? >> reporter: good evening, norah. in these last minutes of sunlight, we are really starting to see the clouds pushed across the sky now. we can hear the wind gusting in the pine trees and the rain becoming increasingly heavy. the center of the storm still offshore, but if it keeps on its current track, it is forecast to pass directly over our position here tonight. the reason we are not up against the water is because this is an area where we could see 15 to 2h all the way into this area, even a few miles, it would cut up some of these escape routes from the coast. governor rhonda santos tonight had a message for anybody thinking there might be time to drive away from their positions. >> don't put yourself at risk, we have fatalities on the roadways and hazardous conditions, almost every storm, those can be avoidable. >> reporter: this year appear has warned that amajor intersection just a mile or so down the road could end up under

>> norah: jason allen thank you very much. to the rising fear of an all-out war on israel's northern border. israeli fighter jets pounded southern lebanon today targeting hezbollah militants. officials in lebanon say hundreds of people, including dozens of children, have been killed in the past two days. hospitals are overwhelmed, and thousands are scrambling for safety. we've got two correspondents in the region. cbs's imtiaz tyab is going to lead us off tonigh from beirut. good evening, imtiaz. >> reporter: norah good evening. well, with hezbollah and israel on the brink of an all-out war the fear now is it could drag hezbollah's main backer iran and israel's closest ally the united states into a regional war that has the potential of being more devastating and far deadlier than what we've seen so far. beirut's southern suburbs targeted yet again in an israeli air strike. at least six were killed in the apparent assassination of another top hezbollah commander. as tens of thousands of civilians flee israel's devastating bomb

cbs' jason allen has more on this from inside the storm zone. >> it's going to be a significant storm. even as it moves inland throughout northern florida, you are going to see trees that are going to be -- that are going to be falling down. >> reporter: this port st. lucie resident was getting ready for work when the wind helped topple a power pole right next to his house. >> obviously it's pretty miraculous that the house isn't on fire. >> reporter: strong gusts of wind and heavy rain moved across the orlando area thursday. residents throughout much of the state and large parts of the southeast braced for dangerous storm surge that could hit as high as 20 feet. >> any storm that comes through the area, it's something that is very worrisome, only because you don't know how far the water will come up. >> reporter: the director of the national hurricane center described the expected storm surge along florida's northwestern coastline as, quote, a really unsurvivable scenario. early flooding hit waterfront neighborhoods in st. petersburg. georgia, the carolinas and virginia have joined f

cbs' jason allen has more from florida. >> reporter: all along florida's west coast, people are fueling 3/4 of a tank right now, but i try to stay full. you never know. >> reporter: and boarding up ahead of helene. here in eastpoint, business owners are taking no chances, shutting down days before the storm hits. mandatory evacuation orders are already in effect of for some people living in coastal or low-lying areas. florida governor ron desantis is urging residents to prepare now. >> right now regardless of how it forms or the speed, right now you do have time. so take advantage of that time. >> reporter: inland in tallahassee, city officials fear the storm could knock out power. when you see a storm track like this, though, how much does it concern you? >> it's very concerning. i'm from tallahassee. this is my hometown. we've never seen a storm of this magnitude that could possibly be a direct hit to tallahassee. >> reporter: with up to 15-foot storm surges predicted, residents are also concerned. >> are you nervous about the storm? >> yes, i am. we don't know which way it's going to

cbs' jason allen reports from the florida coast in the path of the storm. >> reporter: in key west, highshoreline as helene barrels towards florida's gulf coast. >> i think the likelihood of being able to get out of here and catch a flight back to houston today or tomorrow is not very possible. so we're going let it pass. >> reporter: the powerful storm is threatening to wallop the sunshine state and large portions of the southeast. >> it's projected to leaf up to 12 inches of rainfall and the storm surge could reach 10 to 15 feet in some areas. it's not a matter of whether we're going get effects. it's just a question of how significant those effects will be. >> reporter: in superb, vulnerable residents and their fine feathered friends were evacuated from flood-prone areas. and in crawfordville, businesses and homeowners are boarding up while plywood, generators and gsoline containers are flying off the shelves. >> this one here's got me a little bit more nervous than the others. i mean, for the extent of how wide and vast it is. >> reporter: here in the big bend coastal communiy, the b

cbs correspondent jason allen is in crawfordville, florida, just south of tallahassee. jason, what's the latest there? >> reporter: norah, as we have the last few minutes of sunlight tonight, we're really starting to see the clouds blow across the sky. we are starting to hear the wind in the pine trees behind us and the rain, although it's not heavy yet, it is steady and it's starting to fall not straight down, but definitely moving in a diagonal. this is one of those areas in the big bend where that storm surge could reach that 15 to 20-foot level. that is where you don't see us by the water tonight. in fact, the gulf coast about 2 1/2 to 3 miles away from this position. that is a high enough surge that some of that water could get this far inland, maybe even beyond in the low lying areas. we're in a good spot, a higher spot, but just down the road from us the sheriff warned people here the water could pile up at a major intersection as much as nine feet high. >> i know you've been talking to evacuees. what are they telling you? >> reporter: we've been talking to evacue

the roughly 170-mile stretch from the big bend region to the city of tampa, beginning with cbs's jason allen is in the coastal community of steinhatchee. good evening, jason. >> reporter: good evening, norah. here on the gulf coast in steinhatchee, nearly every boat is moved out of this usually busy marina. the water here has surged as high as 8 feet during storms just in the past year. >> 6 feet up inside the house. >> reporter: 6 feet inside the house? >> inside the house. 6 feet. >> reporter: george edwards hired movers to take everything out of his home. the same thing he did a year ago. >> the mandatory evacuation order has been issued for this area. >> reporter: all morning, sheriff's deputies drove through the streets telling people to lead. storms have hit here so regularly... >> thy kingdom come, buy will be done. >> reporter: dream 11 gathered storm-wary residents for a prayer session as helene closed in. >> we don't want to go through this anymore, but we will have to. >> reporter: i'm nicole valdes in crystal river where businesses have heeded the warning. they boarded up, these

jason allen is in crawford, florida, with the latest. >> reporter: the brunt of hurricane helene is nowhing right up against florida's big bend region. this storm will move through fast, but it will be a crucial next couple of hours. hurricane helene has made landfall along florida's big bend region barreling onshore with damaging winds as forecasters warn of a catastrophic storm surge. >> it is currently making landfall in taylor county in the big bend section of florida, deco beach. it is a category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. >> reporter: strong gusts of wind and heavy rain moved across the orlando area thursday. residents throughout much of the state and large parts of the southeast braced for dangerous storm surge that could hit as high as 20 feet. >> any storm that comes through the area, it's something that's very worrisome only because you don't know how far the water will come up. >> reporter: the director of the national hurricane center described the expected storm surge along florida's northwestern coastline as "a really unsurvivable scenario.