cnn's rene marsh takes us to lee county where schools are still shut down. >> my goodness gracious. >0-year-old son's school for the first time. >> that's the sign he stands in for the first day of school every year. >> reporter: fort myers beach elementary is one block from the ocean. hurricane ian's powerful winds tore down walls, and it destroyed nearly everything inside. >> losing that school is -- it's probably what i've cried about the most. >> reporter: it's been more than two weeks, and the entire lee county school district remains shut down. >> we do have schools that remain in a high-needs category, suffering significant damage. >> he already said this year was tougher for him than most, so i am worried about him falling behind. >> reporter: lee county schools are emblematic of a growing trend. the climate crisis disrupting school systems nationwide for months and in some cases, years. in california, wildfires have been the leading cause of school closures from 2018 to 2019, a record 2,295 schools closed. last year, in louisiana, hurricane ida, a devastating category 4 storm

schools there have been particularly hard-hit, and as cnn's rene marsh reports, it's just the latesttreme weather brought on by the climate crisis in the u.s. >> reporter: she sees the destruction of her 10-year-old son's school for the first time. fort myers beach elementary is one block from the ocean. hurricane ian's powerful winds is tore down walls and the storm surge approached the top of the school doors, destroying everything inside. >> losing that school is probably what i cried about the most. >> reporter: it's been more than two weeks, and the entire school system has remained shut down. >> it's suffered significant damage. >> he already said this year was tougher this year than most. i am worried about him falling behind. >> reporter: lee county schools are em policemen matic of a growing trend, climate systems affecting schools for months, in some cases even years. in california wildfires have been the leading cause of school closures frchl to 18 to 2019, a record 2,295 schools closed. last year in louisiana, hurricane ida, a devastating category 4 storm, ripped off roof

as cnn's rene marsh reports, it's just the latest example of extreme weather brought on by the climaten in the u.s. >> my goodness gracious. >> reporter: melissa wright sees the destruction at her 10-year-old son zane's school for the first time. >> that's the sign he stands in front of the first day of scoot every year. >> reporter: fort myers beach elementary is one block from the ocean. hurricane ian's powerful winds tore down walls and its storm surge approached the top of the school doors, destroying nearly everything inside. >> losing that school, it's probably what i've cried about the most. >> reporter: it's been more than two weeks, and the entire lee county school district remains shut down. >> we do have schools that remain in a high needs category suffering significant damage. >> he already said this year is tougher for him than most. i am worried about him falling behind. >> reporter: lee county schools are emblematic of a growing trend. the climate crisis disrupting school systems nationwide for months and in some cases years. in california, wildfires have been the leadin

rene marsh, cnn, washington. >>> hello, again. i'm fredricka whitfield. power in congress is up for grabs as only a handful of states could determine which party takes control. in arizona, it's a tight senate race between the incumbent democratic senator mark kelly and republican blake masters. in nevada, the race is a toss-up between catherine cortez masto and republican adam laxalt. in

cnn's renee marsh has been keeping up that. civil rights investigation. >> reporter: well, john, the epa investigation is in response to a complaint filed by the knapp knapp and nine jackson residents, and in that complaint the knnaacp said they prohibit federal funds from engaging in any discriminatory practices so now the epa is focused on whether mississippi discriminated against the majority black city of jackson based on race when it doled out federal funds for a critical water infrastructure improvement. in other words, did mississippi funnel federal dollars to white communities for projects that ensured safe drinking water and denied jackson's its fir share? that's the question. both the mississippi department of health and the department of environmental quality are under the microscope with this investigation. they have responded to epa acknowledging the receipt of their letters about this investigation. cnn did reach out to both agencies. we have not received a response, but we are hearing from the naacp which origina

as cnn's renee marsh explains, this is just one way the climate crisis is impacting education. >>> my at her 10-year-old son zain's school for the first time. >> that's the sign he stands in for the first day of school every year. >> reporter: fort myers beach is one block from the ocean. hurricane ian's powerful winds tore down walls and the storm surge destroyed nearly everything inside. >> losing that school is -- too's probably what i've cried about the most. >> reporter: it's been more than two weeks, and the entire lee county school district remains shut down. >> we do have schools that remain in a high-needs category suffering significant damage. >> he already said this year was tougher for him than most. i am worried about him falling behind. >> reporter: lee county schools are emblematic of a growing trend. the climate crisis disrupting school systems nationwide for months and, in some cases, years. in california, wildfires have been the leading cause of school closures from 2018 to 2019, a record 2,295 schools closed. last year in louisiana, hurricane ida, a devastating cate

rene marsh, cnn, washington. >> so many compounded problems there.fter she herself was involved in a multicar crash, turning the focus to saving others, all the while she is, get this, nine months pregnant. we're going to talk to her next. lincoln's been exploring new ways to deliviver sanctuary in its vehicles. comfort for bodydy and mind. that's's ambitious. but the future of sanctuary, well that's downright audacious. ♪ before... & bath fitter. before.. & bath fitter. if y have a "before" bath, now's the time to call bath fitter to get a beautiful "after." with our unique tu over tub process, the's no mess or stress. spend smart on a beautiful new bath done right, backed by a lifetime warranty. join over 2 million happy customers who know: it just fits. bath fitter visit bathfitter.com to book your free consultation. ♪ ♪ president biden signed the inflation reduction act into law this afternoon. ok, so what exactly does it mean for you? out of pocket costs for drugs will be capped. for seniors, insulin will be just $35. families will save $2,400 o

rene marsh, thanks so much. >>> still ahead, we'll go back to florida.ion in its path in parts of the state. and residents continue to struggle now on this long road to recovery. >>> a programming note, join to have stanley tucci as he explores puglia, the heel of italy's boot, known for its fresh and simple food along with its famous olive oil. [ speaking non-english ] >> you don't need that. oh, come on. that's amazing. yep. yep. yep. oh, my gosh. that's so good. thank you. fantastico. so unusual. he's revived these flavors with such skill and reflection that despite their humble >> there's a dignity to his approach. and if his packed restaurant is anything to do by, it's welcomed by the whole community. >> i'm always so much hungrier after seeing these. don't miss all new episode stan any tucci searching for italy tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. here on cnn. intelligent technology. courageous performance. discover a new world of possibilities in the all-new lexus rx. never lo your edge. two new ihop lunch and dinner menu items and twice the choice. sirloi

cnn's rene marsh has more on the vulnerabilities that are putting many americans at risk. >> even nowogically traumatic for me because i'm on constant alert dreading the next rainfall. >> reporter: when jacque jones moved into her reedsville, georgia home she would have no idea it would mean her property would flood. heavy rain caused this heavy flooding. one month later more rain caused more flooding. >> the water was literally over three feet high. up at the house at the windowsills, it was almost four feet. >> reporter: no one told jones the biggest financial investment she was making, was prone to flooding. fema says the risk is low and her home state of georgia does not have flood disclosures laws. >> if i had better information, up-to-date information, accurate information, i would not have purchased this house. so now i'm trapped in a 30-year mortgage i can't get out of. >> reporter: jones is not alone. the natural resources defense council tracks state flood disclosure laws and say the majority of states have inadequate laws or not at all, leaving homeowners completely in the

rene marsh, cnn, washington. >>> and thank you for joining us. i'm paula newton.oom continues in just a moment. we'll have the latest on hurricane ian. why? why? only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ so how many vaccines have you given to people? me? about 1000. walgreens...millions. no way can i miss her big debut. wi your booster, i think you'll be there. for every twirl. i got a shot so my sister won't get ck. way to go, big bro! so while we're here... ...flu shot, as well? let's do it. when you need to talk vaccinations, our pharmacists are here. ♪ ♪ when high quality is the only quality that matters, we fit your standards, with no-compromise quality and a lifetime guarantee. bath fitter. it just fits. visit bathfitter.com to book your free consultation. new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. >>> hello. welcom

rene marsh, cnn, washington. >>> hello, again. i'm fredricka whitfield. the midterm elections just weeks away and the balance of power in congress is up for grabs as only a handful of states could determine which party takes control. in arizona, it's a tight senate race between the incumbent democratic senator mark kelly and republican blake masters. in nevada, the race is a toss-up between catherine cortez masto and republican adam laxalt. in pennsylvania, mehmet oz, a republican, and democratic lieutenant governor governor john fetterman. georgia's candidates met in a live debate last night. raphael warnock faced off against republican herschel walker after weeks of bombshell allegations leveled at the former football star. cnn's eva mckend has more. >> reporter: democratic senator yell war knock and republican challenger herschel walker are in a contentious georgia senate race with u.s. senate controlling. >> it is time to get under way. >> reporter: they debated friday night. walker, running on a family values platform currently involved in a scandal

if all of this isn't depressing enough, cnn's renee marsh has a warning that water prices are going upf brittle uprooted almond trees lay flat across dry farmland in california. drought-tightening water restrictions and skyrocketing water prices have forced farmers to sacrifice their crops. this is what a thirsty city on the verge of running out of water looks like. >> they can't continue this. >> reporter: the city councilman says they were set to run out of water by mid to late november and had to go to the market to make up the shortfall. the city was short about 600 acre feet of water, the equivalent of about 300 olympic size pools. last week they finalized the purchase from a california irrigation district. the price tag for one of life's most basic necessities, roughly $1.1 million. adkinson says the same amount of water used to cost the city $114,000. >> i was just floored. i could not believe they could sell water at that price. but that was actually a cheap rate. that's the cheapest rate we found. >> reporter: the index that tracks water transactions in california shows the pr