randi kaye is on the scene for us. ene where you are, randy. >> reporter: it is quite a sight. we are seeing probably -- these are definitely hurricane-force winds. i know that jennifer gray was saying possibly up to 100 miles an hour. it is really pounding this area. earlier, it was much quieter here. we had the eye pass over us and things had definitely calmed down. now it is much, much worse. we are seeing debris flying down these streets and also some of the trees are down as well. if you look over here, you can see some of the debris out there. and we also are expecting still some of the storm surge because we are not very far from charlotte harbor, which is just on the edge of downtown punta gorda, and that is where that storm surge, which is still expected, maybe 12 to 18 feet, will come. there is a good reason why the businesses here spent days in downtown punta gorda trying to get sandbags and boarding up their businesses because of how bad -- give me a second -- how bad this is supposed to be. that house, beli

let's go to randi kaye down in punta gorda. what are you seeing so far there? >> reporter: good morning, john. we are seeing conditions deteriorate here. there's been pretty heavy rains and pretty good wind gusts. i'm on the edge of downtown punta gorda. this is the peace river behind me. a lot of this water, it is going for downtown punta gorda and flood those streets. >> if you are in an evacuation zone, particularly in the southwest florida counties, you know, your time to evacuate is coming to an end. you need to evacuate now. >> reporter: governor ron desantis issuing another plea to residents in the storm's path to leave. >> now's the time to act. you need to get to higher ground. you need to get to structures that are safe. there are shelters open in all of these counties and that would be preferable than remaining in one of those very vulnerable areas. >> reporter: more than 2.5 million floridians are under some sort of evacuation order. fema issuing this dire warning. >> by the time it reaches the shores of florida the storm is going to slow down to ap

we lost randi kaye in punta gorda.he important thing to know is randi and her team are trying to stay safe. that's around where the storm could make landfall. that's the area of some of the greatest concern. the surge could be up to 18 feet. michael brennan is standing by there, the 11:00 a.m. advisory. why don't you tell us what you're see now, michael? >> we're seeing the eyewall of ian starting to move onshore, to places like sanibel and captiva. it's basically like take cover now. hopefully nobody is left in those islands. hopefully people are away from that right now. the eyewall will continue to move onshore and you're going to start to see the water levels rise as the big push of gulf water comes up. that's where we is see the 12 to 18 feet of storm surge inundation above ground level. that's three times as tall as i am. that's really an unsurvivable conditions. >> you know, we keep saying this is the most powerful storm to make landfall in recorded history on the west side of florida. you talked about the storm

>> randi kaye in punta gorda.'m so glad they made that decision to evacuate. 155 mile per hour winds, almost no one has experienced that type of hurricane. it could be and will be one of the most powerful storms ever to make landfall in the united states over the next few hours. jim and poppy, starting to pick up and rain here. all of florida -- almost all of florida is going to feel the impact of this and the concern here is that impact could be historic. >> john, thank you for being there. bill, randi, our whole team and all the crews on the ground bringing us these reports live. we will get back to you in just a minute. our chad myers is monitoring all of this from the severe weather center. chad, i understand you just got a new update on ian, is that right? >> unfortunately, that's another one, 12 to 18 is now the expected surge. it's simply because the storm has been in the water and it's been so strong for so long, now we know the bubble under the storm is even greater than it would have been had it stayed 1

randi kaye in ft. myers. first, though, let's go to cnn's miguel marquez, live in charleston, south carolina. miguel, it's coming for you. >> it is coming. we don't know how much punch ian has left, but it is already start to pour here. they have issued a flash flood warning here in charleston. i want to show you what the bay looks like here. this is the area that will flood here in the city. this floods on a good day, but what they are expecting is a 9-foot tide around noon, around noon, is also when that storm is going to sort of come into this area. they're not quite sure where it's going to hit. so if you have a 9-foot tide, where it floods around 7 feet here, on top of that, a storm surge and water coming down from the sky. you're going to have a real problem here. there goes a police officer through roads that are starting to collect water here. several roads have already been shut down in charleston. they are at their highest level of alert here in the city and the county, ready for anything that ian c

randi kaye in ft. myers. >>> the national hurricane center expects ian to continue strengthening and to become a hurricane once again in just a few hours. it's a tropical storm now off the coast of florida in the atlantic ocean. cnn's meteorologist jennifer gray is in the weather center for us. where is ian right now exactly and how strong is it expected to get as it regains strength? >> right. so right now it's just off the coast of orlando. you can see that little swirl there. the storm is quite disorganized right now, as you can expect. but it is starting to get back together again. right now with winds of 70 miles per hour. we only have to get to 74 before this becomes a hurricane once again. keep in mind tropical-storm-force winds extend hundreds of miles from the center. we're already seeing tropical-storm-force winds all along the coast of georgia, south carolina, and very gusty winds extending inland. a lot of these trees in the southeast have big tree canopies, so we'll see a lot of trees go d

after the break, cnn's randi kaye has a look at the damage in south florida. surge took out my sliding glass doors i made it was intense against the water was up to my armpits and at that point it was a struggling to try to get out of the house. . cnn.com/impact. cnn.com/impact. ♪ out your name? ♪ ♪ youou know that i've falling♪ ♪ and i don't know what to say ♪ ♪ oh, i ♪ dude ♪ i want to be with you everywhere. ♪ from bolt to blazer, equinox to silverado, chevy evs are for everyone, everywhere. we'll make a new bet around every two seconds. not only on the game, but on the game of life. betting that le is just a swipe away. ♪ being on picking up that curious hitch hiker carrying a bowling bag. ♪ and tting that he doesn't turn out to be a corn hole prodigy. ♪ every moment is life is a bet, but life doesn't up to $1000 back in free bets if you don't win. so bet on america's #1 sportsbook, fanduel, and make every moment more. (classical piano music) - in terms of the hate crimes. i think there is so much more work to be done to make that choice, to continue to lo

cnn's randi kaye is there for us. randi?ou want to talk about the power of this hurricane and the power of this storm in the fort myers area, we have a perfect example for you. this is not about yard. let me just say that up front. this boat though is now on dry land. carried over from legacy harbor, which is just on the other side of where we're standing, that's where the water is, carried over here by the force of the winds, the water, in the storm. not only that, but you also have this massive piece of concrete here, this is part of the dock. this is not supposed to be here. it's supposed to be well on the other side of us. back in the water. but was also carried over here. this is incredibly heavy. you can only imagine. if you look out there in the distance, there's some more votes. not supposed to be here. completely out of place. there's maybe one, two, three, four, 56 both out there. all smashed together. definitely not supposed to be here, carried here by the storm along with other pieces of the dock. there's a coupl

let's go first to randi kaye in southwest florida, where people are getting ready, randi. >> reporter: yeah, they certainly are, john. we're in downtown punta gorda, florida. you see here people have started to board up their businesses here in downtown. they also have put some sandbags down. that's because people here, there is a real culture of preparedness. they remember what happened here in 2 04 with hurricane charlie when it chewed through this area. that was supposed to go to tampa, might a right turn and plowed through punta gorda. they have been stocking up on gasoline, stocking up on water and certainly up and down this street they have been putting up boarding along their shops. the story with hurricane charlie was wind. the story and the concern with hurricane ian, of course, is water and storm surge. they're expecting a 4 to 7 foot storm surge here in the punta gorda area. they have four shelters opening this morning at this hour here. they can hold about 4,000 people. but the evacuation order right now under way for zone a is about 40,000 people. so they're hoping that t

let's go to our colleague randi kaye. evacuations in charlotte county. what could you tell us. >> they've been under way for the last 24 hours. they are evacuating zone a which is the coastal communities and barrier islands. 140,000 people under evacuation orders. a couple of hours ago four shelters opened up here in charlotte county. they could only hold about 4,000 people so they're not sure where the rest of the people go to when they evacuate but they need to get out of town. you can't talk about hurricane ian without talking about charlie from 2004. buzz that was supposed to go to tampa and barreled through here in charlotte and through punta gorda, and so a lot of people still remember what happened. we just spoke with the director of the emergency operations center in charlotte county and we talked about the concern for storm surge because they're expecting about four to seven feet of storm surge here in this area. and they know what happened back in 2004 and this is what he had to tell me. >> storm surge is always one of the largest concerns here

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randi kaye is south of that in punta gorda.'s start the hurricane ian latest track and cnn meteorologist jennifer gray. what's the current outlook for florida? what are you most concerned about? >> not looking good for florida. concerned about the stretch of coast from tampa to naples. we could see potential record storm surge. the winds right now 120 miles per hour. we have gusts of 140. it is moving to the north at 10. as you mentioned earlier expected to strength on the a category 4. will likely make landfall as a major storm and slowing don very close to shore so that means if this storm is moving at a walking pace we look at long duration of storm surge and the rain is going to be the two biggest impacts. we could see up to 12 feet of storm surge. that's where we see potentially that much storm surge and 30 inches of rain. potentially catastrophic. 8 to 12 feet of storm surge wherever it makes landfall. and then as you spread out it is less. right here based on the current track looking at potential for 9 feet storm surge

but it hasn't happened, they haven't ruled it out. >> our randi kaye there meanwhile authorities have been fielding rest holds from right across the state, emergency calls are inundated, the sheriff. >> we see crews that were able to smash open. thankfully safe who's ever car was there. the maples fire rescue department road please let this be a lesson to stay off the roads when or flooding possible, sometimes the rescuers are held up this, believe it or not as you can see the fire trucks can't go anywhere until the water recedes. the mayor issued this warning. >> we have water on the streets, we have power lines are down. we've had several citizens that just had to be retrieved, right now we need people to stay inside, we'll let you know when it is safe to go back out. >> coming up for us hurricane ian trailed -- we'll have the detaiails next in florida has been rocked by powewer storms in the past, we will explainin just how ian compares to the others. we will be back after this. >> the intensity of ian -- we'll breathat down momentarily, it is possible that this strengthens, we wil

the surge where randi kaye is right now, and she'll be back in a bit, and so is bill weir. the that be 15 feet, above the top of some of these homes on these canals, a lot of this area. a lot of port charlotte. all the way through cape coral. you will have all those homes with water in them. so many big cities. i was looking at naples last night before before we bumped this to a cat 4.9. everybody, every single spot in naples will likely have some part of a saltwater surge. what's 110 or more in this entire area, as it is storm comes onshore, moves up toward orlando. luckily, orlando is only in a hurricane category, now this cat 2. that's a large zone with trees down. we already have 175,000 people without pow e. and then this area up north of orlando, maybe toward the villages, 20 inches of rain? so many hazards. another hazard, tornadoes, tornado watch in effect, too. >> the last thing they need. chad, thank you. >>> we'll also speak next with the sheriff of pinellas county, completely closing access to the barriers islands, and his message to anyone who stays behind. tha

randi kaye, thank you so much for showing us what's still happening there.g to be some time to get people back up on their feet. in fort myers beach, where randi is trying to get to, no far from where smee ishe is, there is so damage. i went on a helicopter tour to look at the damage from the sky and i went over a restaurant that is badly damage and another destroyed. franco russo owes fresh catch bistro and junkanoo beach. your establishments, did they make it? >> no, they did not. junkanoo, as you can see, is just no longer there. it totally wiped out. and the baseistro, the structurs there but there's a whole lot of water damage, the windows are blown out, patio is gone. there's roof damage. there's not even stairs to get up to that restaurant anymore. >> we're looking at the picture, junkanoo, you can see it's gone. it's just gone. >> yeah. >> what does it feel like to see the power that this storm had? >> um, to be honest, my initial feeling was just confusion. the day of the storm i thought the water had entered junkanoo and it was about five feet high

randi kaye, thank you so much.tten reports that a causeway in the fort myers area has partially collapapsed. this is obviouslsly a significa developmenent here. we're going to be right back with more information on this. a causewayay partially collapsi in the fort myers area. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ liz, you nerd, cough if you're in here! shh! i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. what about rob's dry cough? works on that too, and lasts 12 hours. 12 hours?! who studies that long? mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs. not flossing well? then add the whoa! of listerine to your routine. new science shows it gets in between teeth to destroy 5x more plaque above the gumline than floss. for a cleaner, healthier mouth. listerine. feel the whoa! (cecily) adam, look-y what i got... (asdam) is that the new iphone 14 pro? (cecily) yup, with this amazing new camera, smile! (adam) and you got it on verizon? (cecily) iphone 14 pro, on them. you should get one! wow, you can hustle. (vo) get a new iphone 14 pro, on us. and get it with one unl

tomorrow morning where i'm standing would be under water. >> randi kaye, thank you for that. i want to bring in the director of the florida division of emergency management, kevin gottfried. as you watch this storm barrel towards your state, what is your main concern tonight? >> right now, the main concern tonight before we go into the overnight hours, people that are in evacuation zones along the southwest gulf coast need to evacuate now. just as the reporter just mentioned from punta gorda, tomorrow morning, it could be under water. we need you to evacuate now. if your local emergency manager asked you to evacuate, evacuate now. they may not be able to help you come morning time. >> when do you think is the last time to evacuate, people who are still there, not obeying those orders to evacuate, when is the last time looking at the models to do so? >> i'm going to say that time is quickly approaching. it could be within a matter of a couple of hours. here in florida, when we get our bridges to a point where we have 40-mile-an-hour sustained winds of one minute or more, we sh

randi kaye, cnn. >>> all right. and now pictures of dig that te dignitaries coming to pay respect. in town standing in line up to ward of 24 hours to pay respects. we have much more straight ahead. all this week meet the change makers and dream makers as we shine a light on those that inspire them. all this week here on cnn. carvana's had a lot of firsts. 100 percent online car buying, car vendinding machines, and now putting you in control of your financing. at carvana, get persononalized terms, browse for cars thatat fit your budget, then customize your downwnpayme and monthly payment. and these aren't made up numbers, it's what you'll really pay, right down to the penny. wheather you're shopping or just looking, it only takes a few seconds and it won't affect your credit score. finally, a totally different way to finance your ride only from carvana. (kari) i just switched to verizon business unlimited. it is just right for my little business. (jeni) we switched, too. (kari) unlimited premium data. unlimited hotspot data. my point of sale is on point. (vo) switch to verin busines

randi kaye, cnn. >> becky anderson, outside of buckingham palace for. you my colleague, john vause picks up after the break with the latest on the war in ukraine. coming, up an exclusive report. watch as a cnn crew comes under fire as ukraine fights to hold on to liberating newly-liberated territory. that, is after this. every moment in life is a bet. like betting on these discount snacks. but life doesn't offer you $150 in free bets when you bet just $5. so when it comes to the nfl. bet on fanduel... and make every moment more. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ "shake your thang" by salt n pepa ♪ hey, sorry i missed your game. it's okay. you see that? that's when i realized it's time to finally do the thing we've been talking about for years. so we're making plans for right now. ♪ careful. ♪ you know, opera isn't so bad. do you like it? start your plan today with a northwestern mutual financial advisor and spend your life living. ♪ welcome back everyone, i'm john vause, you're watching cnn newsroom. counteroffensive rolls on an eastern your crane as russian military retreats,

randi kaye has more. >> this is a type of storm surge that is life-threatening. >> with hurricane ian towards florida, many here are not taking any chances. guadeloupe gomez has been boarding up his home for days. >> they say to prepare for it. >> he says at least 12 of his family members will take shelter here. the concern with hurricane ian is not just the wind, it's also the rain and storm surge. nearly 7 million people along florida's west coast between fort myers and clearwater, including all of the tampa bay area, are under a storm surge warning. >> storm surge is always one of our largest concerns here in southwest florida. you know, 90% of fatalities occurr due to water. >> charlotte harbour and the cities of port charlotte of punta gorda are expecting the highest storm surge, with 8 to 12 feet possible. around tampa, a record storm surges expected. >> a storm that slows down for 24 to 48 hours, and just continuously dumps rain into the tampa bay area is devastating. >> hurricane ian is expected to dump at least 2 to 3 months worth of rainfall by friday. possibly as much as 24

randi kaye is in north fort myers, one of the worst hit areas, rescue workers helping as best they can. randi, good to have you there. you've been talking to people. sharing how hard it is. i wonder if you could describe to folks what you're seeing out there. >> reporter: it's been a really tough morning for a lot of folks as you can imagine. we came to this community, the caloosahatchee river flooded this entire community in north fort myers as you said and a lot of these homes are just filled with thick mud, lots of water, we spoke to some people, they said the water just -- it was just a matter of seconds before it got to share shoulder level and just broke through their doors, broke through their glass windows, it came rushing through. very, very scary for a lot of people. and a lot of these -- you can see the water is still pretty deep here. we have seen some rescue crews finally showing up here this morning but it's been a lot of locals helping locals, neighbors helping neighbors and have seen people in their boats like this one here rescuing other neighbors. we've saw one guy co

starting off our coverage, randi kaye is in punta gorda tonight where she has been experiencing some he worst soft storm today. randi, it still looks pretty brutal out there. >> reporter: yeah, anderson, it's pretty bad out here. this has been going on for hours. we had the little break at the beginning of the storm and the break at the eye. the clearing, as i mentioned, the birds came out. now we have been in it for hours, more than 120-mile-an-hour winds here. and the main thing really to point out to you is just the darkness here in addition to the storm. so, we don't know what's really coming at us, but we did light up a little bit across the way for you. but of course the power is out here in downtown punta gorda where we are. and the winds are quite strong. so, we're keeping one eye on some flying debris that could be coming our way while also trying to show out what's going on here. but we're just at the edge of this parking garage where we have some safety we can run to just in case. if you take a look, you can see the rain probably and some of the light as it's coming down, s

randi kaye, cnn. as bonnie greer, author and playwright former deputy chair of the royal museum also joining us richard quest. you were tweeting about princess anne today, i heard people, were saying that she's kind of the unsung hero of the entire, this entire week the way she's held ourself, the role she's played. >> she's, the british museum and royal museum, cause you're thinking about the princess royal. >> yes. >> and who's been to the british were museum, as has the queen -- she's a breakout star of this whole thing. she, her stamina, 72 years old and she did the vigil of the princes, which is the first time a woman's ever done that, stood there walk behind her brother and that walk down the mound, is long, it's sort of like this and she walked it with him you can look at her and see she's holding him up, there is no question about that, and the deep curtsy she did when her mother's coffin came down you have to be a ballerina to do that so she is stunning. >> she, you think will have a larger r

our randi kaye is there. randi, can you hear me? >> i hear you, john.tside here, you can see, whoa, just how strong these winds are. you can understand why we are staying inside. that water is just whipping around on the streets. last time we were on air, which wasn't that long ago, there was not any water on the street, and now it's already starting to gather, and if you look on this side, there's the gas station there, which obviously isn't doing any business today, but that's the area, that's the direction, i should say of charlotte harbor, which is where it likely is going to overflow from the storm surge where they were expecting 12 to 18 foot storm surge here in punta gorda. you can see, it's remarkable when you look at the trees there, you can see some of those trees have already broken over. yet the screens, somehow miraculously are still on that house there. we've also been watching very closely there are these transformers around the bend there. those poles have been shaking, certainly a lot of concern about that because of the pouwer outages

shared their joyful memories of the queen, recounting the more playful side of the monarch. "360's" randi kayet. >> queen elizabeth ii's jubilee this year. that's her sharing a cup of tea with paddington bear. >> perhaps you would like a marmalade sandwich. i always keep one more emergencies. >> so do i. i keep mine in here. for later. >> queen elizabeth was known to have a quick wit and a wicked sense of humor, even around other heads of state. last year she lightened the mood when posing for pictures at the g7 summit in cornwall, england. and years ago, after then-president george w. bush made a verbal slipup, saying she had visited the u.s. in 1776 instead of 1976, she gently teased him during her opening toast during the white house dinner. >> i wondered if i should start this toast saying, when i was here in 1776. >> watch how she played along with the obamas and her grandson, harry, when she was helping harry promote the invictus games. >> prince harry, remember when you told us to bring it at the invictus games. >> careful what you wish for. >> boom. >> oh, really? please. >> boom. >> t

randi kaye? >> randi kaye, what are you seeing? >> we are at the top of a parking garage in downtown punta gorda. this is this house across from us. we have been watching it just get whipped. all the trees, many have come down. just in the last hour or couple of hours or so, the winds have picked up to the hurricane force winds. it was raining so hard, violently. we saw lightning and there was loud thunder. that has lessened. we were told that the eye would pass over us and we would see a little bit lighter rain, possibly lighter winds. it doesn't feel like we are getting the lighter winds. you can see just what's going on. we have been watching the transformers as well have been shaking on the poles just outside here. there's a lot of concern those could come down. just as bill said, we are not far from charlotte harbor, even though we are on higher ground, we were told about the 12 to 18 foot possible storm surge. i'm inside the parking garage. this is how fierce the wind is. we haven't seen the storm surge down in the streets be

randi kaye is there in fort myers beach, and randi, you reached there a short time ago, and what are you seeing? >> we are just on the other side of that beach area, ana, the other side of the bridge, and we are here in a big tourism area. i wanted to show you that we are at the san carlos rv resort as it is called, and this right here, this empty lot used to have a whole bunch of rvs in there, and i am told by people who know it well, and they were parked there in the storm, and they have disappeared. they either floated away or were taken a way by the wind speeds. this is what the rv park looks like now, and out there in the distance and i talked to the owners of the one rv and it is the one surviving rv from the rv park which is incredible. you can see what it has done here, and there were washers and dryers in the rv park twisted as well. but coming back out to street, a ana, and this is the situation here. there are boats everywhere. the boats that were in the gulf are on shore in the dryland. and look at that, that is captain tony's fishing adventures and behind it, two other g

. >> let's begin with our colleague, randi kaye, who joins us in ft. myers, where, randi, you have been. you have rescue workers there out trying to help survivors. crews beginning, right, as the sun just came up to really see what hurricane ian has wrought. >> yeah, good morning, poppy and jim. we made it here to ft. myers. we drove here from punta gorda earlier this morning to see what kind of damage. we found quite a bit of it. in this community, the caloosahatchee river flooded this community. if you take a look, some of the water has actually gone down, even since we got here. but it was so high, if you look here on this mobile home, you can see where the dirt is on the screen, that's how high the water was. we talked to one 85-year-old woman who was in her home at the time and she said that it just took a matter of -- it was just a matter of seconds for the water to get up to shoulder level. she was bounced around in there by her furniture, thrown up against the wall, she was heavily bruised this morning when we spoke to her, but luckily a neighbo

cnn's randi kaye is on the scene for us once again tonight. out this hurricane as it came ashore. describe the situation on the ground tonight where you are in ft. myers. >> we are just south of where we rode out the storm in punta gorda. we came here to ft. myers beach to see the damage, because it's such a hard-hit area. and wolf, this is one of the things that we found here. this is the san carlos rv resort in ft. myers beach. you can see, this is where the rvs used to be. that is now empty. they're gone. we talk to people who said that there were rvs parked there before the storm. this is what the rv park looks like now. and then if you look out there in the distance, there's only one soul surviving rv. we talked to the owners. they cannot believe that their rv is still there. it's totaled, but they can't believe it didn't disappear with the others. over here, they have washing machines for those in the park, and those are obviously destroyed as well. let me take you up to the right side and show you, there have been power companies all day

we have two hours of live coverage tonight starting with our randy kaye in punta gorda who's been in the teeth of this storm now for hours. first of all, randy, give us a sense what is going on right now. >> reporter: anderson, we're here in downtown punta gorda, and it's quite a situation. we've had now for hours these pounding winds, pounding rains here. earlier we had the eye of the storm, anderson, came right over as it was so calm. the birds came out, and that's what happens as you experience the eye, and now we're on the backside of this storm for hours. we've clocked 125 mile an hour winds here in downtown punta gorda, and i can show you just some of the debris out there that's been coming down. we've had trees that have come down. we had a stop sign that came flying down the street. we've seen pieces of metal. as you know this is what happens in a storm of this magnitude. there's certainly been a fair amount of debris and palm trees. what we haven't seen, anderson, is any real storm surge to speak of. we are only a few blocks from charlotte harper, and as you recall back in 20

randi kaye, cnn. >> joining me now is cnn royal correspondent max foster.ents are difficult for any family to have it all publicly displayed like this. and of course they know that coming here and being part of this, it brings it all back. >> yeah. so, i think they are following all the protocols, the couple, and they're fitting in as and where expected, knowing the queen had set the plans out ahead of time. >> you were pointing out earlier today they were given a prominent place in the funeral procession. all of that was thought out. >> what was interesting, if you remember prince philip's memorial, they were sitting in the congregation while william was in front. what's changed now is that the monarch is charles, and charles' two children are william and harry. so, he's sort of gone up a level. so, he took a very prominent position today, particularly going into the -- into westminster hall. he was there with the queen and the prince of wales. and i think that, you know, that is a gesture as well from prince -- king charles didn't have to do that. he's gi

includes a new role for the wife of king charles, camilla, who is now the queen consort. "360's" randi kayea past, her journey to royal service, and her rise to the queen consort. >> i know she will bring to her new role the steadfast duty. >> reporter: king charles iii is talking about his wife, camilla parker bowles, the queen consort. growing up in the english countryside, camilla had developed a passion for horses. it was early 1970s, and charles had joined the royal navy. in his absence, camilla married andrew parker boles. charles married diana but admitted he was having an affair. >> it was crowded in this marriage. >> reporter: both couples divorced and camilla was vilified by the family. after diana's death, the royal family tried to help camilla image. in 2005, charles and camilla were married in a civil ceremony at windsor. later that year, camilla made her first official visit to the united states as the duchess of cornwall. over their 17 year marriage, camilla has emerged as charles' greatest confidant and love of his life. >> they love each other. she is a source of great supp

randi kaye, i'm glad you're doing well. i hope you got a little bit of sleep. another long day for you and your team ahead. please be safe. >> reporter: thank you, john. >> all right, let's go to brian todd who is live in st. petersburg, across, on the other side of tampa bay from where i am. brian, what are you seeing this morning? >> reporter: well, john, here in st. petersburg, like where rand diwas, downed industries, power lines throughout the city, debris all over the place, damage assessments, too, as we kind of walk around this corner and show you what we can of the damage here in st. petersburg. just a lot of debris on the ground that he have to clear out obviously, daylight has not arrived yet. that will be coming shortly. when it gets here, that's going to give rescue officials to a chance to reassess and try to figure out how to get to these places. we talk about damage assessment, and randi mentioned rescues still need to be carried out. they've got to figure out how to get to these people, officials in collier county where naples is say they've co

>> randi randy kaye, cnn, fort myers, florida. >> >> he joins this hour from orlando in florida.ou for taking time for being with us. >> thank you so much for making the time to talk to me, we really appreciate you all for getting this message out there. to your viewers. >> thank, you absolutely. >> now look at the hours after he made landfall on wednesday, you had tens of thousands of people in florida, headed for safety, and what more than 200 shelters that were operating by the red cross. what are these numbers looking like tonight in the overnight hours? >> that's correct. the last numbers we had were just over 30,000 people who were taking shelter and these pre storm evacuation fathers about 260 of them either run by the red cross or community partners. and that required a volunteer disaster staff, primarily volunteers of more than 700 people all across the states. tonight, those numbers, they are shifting a little bit. we are expected them to go up, but because the storm has permanently moved out of florida right now we are taking an assessment of the damage. we are talking

and i want to bring with randi kaye in punta gorda, florida, which is really taking the brunt of this right now. randi, what is the latest where you are? >> reporter: erin, the winds had calmed down for just a moment. i thought maybe we were going to get a break here. but we are not. they are still quite strong coming through downtown punta gorda where we are. we are just a few blocks away from charlotte harbor, which is where the storm surge would be coming from. the ocean's going to push -- the storm is going to push the ocean water into that harbor, and it's going to come right into downtown punta gorda where we are. but if you take a look at what's going on, winds probably more than 100 miles an hour. we're also seeing quite a bit of rain, as you can see. i actually put my glasses on just for some protection from what's going on here. but you can see there's debris that's been flying through the air now for well over an hour. there are some trees down. there is nobody to speak of on this street here. mainly because of how it feels and how difficult it is, the conditions are out he

randi kaye, cnn. >> joining me now is cnn royal correspondent max foster.oments are difficult for any family to have at all publicly displayed like this and of course, they know that coming here and being part of this, it brings it all back. >> yeah. so, i think that they are following all the protocols, the couple. they are fitting in as we're expected, knowing the queen had set the plans out ahead of time. >> you are putting out earlier today that they were given a prominent place in the funeral procession, and all of that, it was thought out. >> what is interesting is if you remember prince philip's memorial day, were given the position, they were sitting in the congregation while william was at the front. what has changed is that the monarch is charles. and charles has two children, william and harry. he has gone up a level, if you see what i mean. he took a very prominent position today, particularly going into westminster hall, and he was there with the queen. and the prince of wales. and i think that that is a gesture as well from prince king charles

randi kaye is live in ft. myers where some of the worst damage is being found. randi, what are you seeing now? >> reporter: we are just on our way to ft. myers beach, it is just that way and so the gulf. we're having a hard time getting through because there is so much devastation. but after this truck goes by, take a look here. this boat and two -- would other boats and the one on its side at the edge of the captain tony fishing adventures, they were all in the water, tied up together and they made their way, they were tossed over during the storm on to dry land. that was not the plan. we spoke to the man named mike who actually was riding out the storm on the boat that is behind this captain tonys one and he said it is 50 tons. he was in the water tied up to the dock, the winds and water came rushing and he felt himself being carried along with the other boat that he was tied to an to dry land. this is what he told us. >> i didn't think it would be bad but the steel boat is safer than those houses were. self-contained generator and power and solid steel. most t

. >> i want to go next to randi kaye who is in punta gorda, florida. what are things like there, randi? >> reporter: anderson, we are now seeing steady rains here. 120,000 people under mandatory evacuation order in charlotte county where we are, about 2/3 of the entire county. we are just outside on the edge of downtown. we came over to this boat launch to see what the situation is with the water levels before the storm. and they look okay for now, but this is the peace river here that feeds into charlotte harbor. what they're expecting is 10 to 12-foot storm surge, what's going to happen is, the peace river and the charlotte harbor is going to both flood. that is the real concern. when the storm comes, the ocean water is going to push into charlotte harbor. it will overflow and the same thing will happen to the peace river. and then where is that water going to go? right up through here and other parts of the harbor and push its way all the way into downtown punta gorda, which is right there. we can back over to downtown, so that's how close all of thi

. >> randi kaye is there in fort myers, florida, and randi, it is devastating to see john berman's view from above, and you are at the ground level and seeing more of it. >> yes, we certainly are, john. we are at fort myers beach and just behind me, you are seeing what we have seen along the way, and captain tony's fishing adventures is a popular tourism boat, and meanwhile, it is on ground, and pushed out of the gulf and on to dryland. you can see that there is another boat behind it, the smaller boat, and the trailer, and the smaller boat was on the trailer, and all of it was pushed on to dry land, and then there's a couple of other boats behind there, and both of them are 50 tons, actually. we spoke to the owner, and this is his business and it was like a floating hotel, and he actually rode the storm out on one of the boats which now has a giant hole in it, and he was on it as he was carried to dryland, and we spoke to him earlier. >> it was windy and a lot of rain obviously. it wasn't just -- we held our own for a long time until about 3:00 or so, and we kept the boat in the slip w

cnn's randi kaye is live in fort myers. randi, what about that?e just heard one of those officials saying this is not a six-month fix. this is going to be long-term. what about in fort myers? can anyone return to their homes there yet? and there homes to return to? >> reporter: well, they're certainly trying to, alison. we are just across the bridge from the beach that john was flying over here in fort myers beach. people have been making a steady stream trying to get to their properties all day. we don't know if they're having any luck or if there is a property. we're standing in the sand, carlo's rv park. i want you to see what is left here, not a single rv over here. there were a bunch parked over there before the storm. where they are now, we have no idea. whether it was the wind or the water, but something took them away. as you take a look here, this was all part of the rv park, it is destroyed. there is only one single lone survivor rv there in the distance. i talked to the owner, they can't believe that their rv does not disappear like all

our randi kaye is standing by here. that is where the storm might make landfall. we got word that the storm is getting even stronger. 155 mile per hour sustained winds. >> reporter: yeah, john, that is certainly not good news for the folks here considering it could be heading straight for us right here. i am just on the edge of downtown punta gorda. i'm standing on the dock holding onto the post because the winds are getting a little stronger certainly. we can feel that. they're definitely increasing in intensity. the rain much heavier than it was when i spoke to you last hour. we are on the edge of the peace river. this is a boat launch on the edge of downtown and the peace river feeds into charlotte harbor. so they are expecting, as you know, this 8 to 12 foot storm surge and this could very well overflow because the ocean water is going to -- the storm is going to push that ocean water into the harbor. it won't have anywhere else to go. it's going to flood into downtown punta gorda which is right just -- we could walk there from here. it's very, very close. the

. >> cnn's randi kaye is making her way to ft. myers beach. and when i see the images, it reminds me of the aftermath of a tsunami. the water sweeps in and taking everything away with it. you've been the ground and right at the tip of the sphere from the start. tell us what is looks like? >> reporter: it feels like that, jim. that is the perfect analogy. because i'll show you what we're seeing. we're close to ft. myers beach. it is just on the other side. we tried to get in but we were pushed back for a poemt. but this is what happened. this is what the gulf did. it pushed the storm along with the gulf pushed everything in the gulf on to dry land. so sea captain tony fishing adventures and there is another yacht behind it that is a 50-ton yacht so you could imagine the force and then you could see the power lines and tell what the damage has been. and then look at this, two cars just in a building here. this is on the main drag to ft. myers beach. this used to be a marina. be careful of the power lines. the storm chewed through it. and as we g

cnn's randi kaye has a.pe of storm surge that is life-threatening. >> with hurricane ian barreling towards florida, many here are not taking any chances. guadeloupe gomez has been boarding up his home for days. >> they say to prepare for it. >> he says at least 12 as family members will take shelter here. the concern with hurricane ian is not just the wind, it's also the rain and storm surge. nearly 7 million people along florida's west coast between fort myers and clearwater, including all of the tampa bay area, are under a storm surge warning. >> storm surge is always one of our largest concerns here in southwest florida. you , 90% of fatalities occurred due to water. >> charlotte harbour, and the cities of port charlotte and putin gorda, are expecting the highest storm surge, with 8 to 12 feet possible. around tampa, erekat storm surges expected. >> a storm that slows down for 24 to 48 hours, and just continuously dumps rain into the tampa bay area is devastating. >> hurricane ian is expected to dump at l

i want to go to randi kaye, where this storm could have a direct impact. tel tell me what you're seeing. >> reporter: the conditions certainly are deteriorating here. the rain comes in waves, it lessens a little bit and then comes back at us pretty hard. the wind is certainly starting to gust as the storm gets closer to the western coast here the florida. i did just talk with the emergency operation center and they said they are considering more evacuations. there is still time for people who haven't evacuated to get out. this would be zone c in this area, people, it's a much more residential area but they're quite concerned about the storm search that we're talking about now, this 12 to 16 feet. about two-thirds of the county has already been under this mandatory evacuation. but here is the river behind me, some concern about this. there's still boats docked out there as well and this feeds right into charlotte harbor and charlotte harbor is where hurricane charlie raced across back in 2004. so certainly a lot of concern about a lot of this water ending u

our reporters brian todd and randi kaye making their way tot some of the hard-hit areas.that i've falling...♪ ♪and i don't know what to say♪ ♪i'll speak a little louder...♪ ♪i'll even shout...♪ ♪you know that i'm proud and i can't get the words out♪ ♪oh i♪ dude... ♪i want to be with you everywhere♪ ♪oh i...♪ ♪i want to be with you everywhere♪ ♪ from bolt to blazer, equinox to silverado, chevy evs are for everyone, everywhere. ♪ plain aspirin could be hurting your stomach. vazalore 325 liquid-filled aspirin capsule is clinically shown in a 7 day study to cause fewer ulcers than immediate release aspirin. vazalore. the first liquid-filled aspirin capsules...amazing! ♪ hey, sorry i missed your game. it's okay. you see that? that's when i realized it's time to finally do the thing we've been talking about for years. so we're making plans for right now. ♪ careful. ♪ you know, opera isn't so bad. do you like it? start your plan today with a northwestern mutual financial advisor and spend your life living. ♪ ♪ >>> we'll be getting back to florida and the storm destruction here h

myers has -- we've had our reporter, randi kaye there, and it has also been, it looks like, devastateddo you have power and water in ft. myers right now? >> partially, there were about 98% of the city was without power yesterday morning, after the storm moved on, and now, i think someone in the 15% has been restored. so we've got a long way to go with power but local utility and some of the forces that have moved in to help are making good progress and we think that will even ramp up over the next day or so. a lot of our city is without water service or either has very low pressure, so some residents actually have no power or no water at this time. but, both utilities are making significant progress in getting that rectified. >> marty, i was just in ft. myers beach and ft. myers six months ago, visiting a friend. we had a wonderful time. i was going around the pier there, looking at all of the, you know, adorable beach shops. and i saw all of the development that was going on. and all of the construction. is that still going to be able to happen in ft. myers now? >> yes. and i think it

you talked about those powerful winds, and cnn's randi kaye was in punta gorda on the back side of this hurricane whipped through with incredible ferocity. there is a reporter. i am on the first floor of this hurricane garage. we came downstairs, just to show you what it's like down here. i see a stop sign that has been pushed over. i'm hearing myself in my ear, i will do my best to describe to you what i'm hearing. the wind is incredible out here right now, we did have the eye passover and it was very calm. there is no rain but right now, we are getting the worst of it. if you look down the street, if you come over here terry, you can see there's a little bit of the -- wrapped around the power line there. there's a tree down. and then on the other side, there's that stop sign. that has completely fallen. these winds, we're told, are on the other side. they came on the other side of the eye. so, we are experiencing this. we're told this is going to last for several hours -- >> and hours before it made landfall in florida, a team of scientists and -- from noaa flew into the eye the storm

randy kaye, cnn. >> i'll be back in london for cnn's live coverage of queen elizabeth's state funerali hope you join me and the rest of our team starting at 5 a.m. eesh time. >>> still to come tonight president biden meeting with the family of brittney griner and paul whelan, both who remain in jail in russia. what griner's wife is saying about the meeting next. or... his nose. for people living with h-i-v, keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a comple, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your doc

randi kaye, cnn. >> with us now is bonnie greer. she's an author, play wright.eard some people saying she's sort of the unsung hero of this entire week. the way she has held herself, the role she has played. >> she's -- the british museum. >> what did i say? >> the royal museum. you're thinking of the princes royal. she's a breakout star of this whole thing. she -- her stamina -- she's 72 years old. she did the vigil of the princes, which is the first time a woman has ever done that, stood there. she's walked behind her brother. and that walk down the mile is long. it's sort of like this. and she walked it with him. you can look at her and see that she's holding him up. there is no question about that. and the deep courtesy that she did when she -- when her mother's coffin came on -- you have to be a ballerina to do that. so, she is stunning. >> and she, you think, is going to be having a larger role than she has had in the past? >> no question. i can't imagine that she's not going to be his adviser. he did give his son, william, of course prince of wales. so, h